Press Release

Another day, another dose of bad news for small business

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 24, 2014) – The Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed, responded to a new CMS report that found 11 million small business employees will see their health insurance premiums increase even before taking into consideration job-killing provisions like the small business health insurance tax (HIT).

“The serious consequences President Obama’s health care law is having on America’s job creators will be felt around the kitchen tables of the tens of millions of hardworking small business employees that form the backbone of communities across the country,” said Amanda Austin, director of federal public policy for the National Federation of Independent Business, a leading Stop the HIT Coalition member.

“Instead of more favors for politically connected big corporations and unions, the President needs to stand up for small business employees and work with the more than 250 bipartisan Members of Congress committed to providing relief from the HIT.”

The HIT is an often-overlooked aspect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that taxes health insurance policies purchased on the fully-insured market – the marketplace where 88 percent of small businesses and individuals buy insurance. Over the next decade, the HIT is expected to affect 34 million Americans and cost the average family $5,000. Labor unions and large corporations are largely exempt from the tax.

The CMS report is the latest in a string of bad news for small businesses and their employees. Last week, a study from the American Action Forum found small employers will see their health insurance premiums rise sharply as a result of the HIT. With the recent Congressional Budget Office projection that the 10-year cost of the HIT would top $145 billion, it is little surprise President Obama’s health care law will reduce the nation’s workforce by more than 2 million people over the next decade.

Legislation to repeal the HIT has been introduced in both houses of Congress. S. 603 and H.R. 763 combined have more than 250 bipartisan cosponsors, and legislation to provide relief from the HIT for two years (HR 3367) has 25 bipartisan sponsors.