SACO, Maine, March 5, 2013 – Small business owners and advocates met today to discuss efforts to repeal the costly Health Insurance Tax (HIT) that was included in the president’s health care plan, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
During the event, small business owners from the Biddeford-Saco area discussedhow this new tax would only exacerbate the challenges facing small business by further raising the cost of health care for thousands of businesses and their employees in the state. Given the recent introduction of bipartisan legislation by Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Jim Matheson (D-UT) to repeal the HIT, attendees called for Maine’s representatives to join the fight in eliminating this harmful tax.
“This area is home to many small businesses, and so many people in the community rely on them,” said Craig Pendleton, executive director of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber. “It is tough enough running a small business as it is, let alone having to deal with additional tax increases on things like health insurance for employees.” The HIT is a discriminatory tax born from the president’s health care plan, which would impose over $100 billion in new taxes on the small business community, their employees and the self-employed over a decade. The HIT could impact more than 140,000 Maine small businesses and 500,000 workers and families.
Under the law, the tax will be imposed almost entirely on what’s known as the “fully insured market,” where 87 percent of small business owners purchase their insurance. The tax would raise the cost of health insurance premiums for families by approximately $5,000 over the next decade according to an analysis by former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
“It is great to see bipartisan leadership from Representatives Boustany and Matheson,” said Grady Sexton, owner of Grady’s Satellite Television in Biddeford. “Too often politics gets in the way of good policy, but this legislation to help small businesses is the kind of commonsense solution that all members of Congress can and should support.”
Today’s event was hosted by the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce and members of the Stop The HIT Coalition, an organization representing small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who support a repeal of the HIT and seek to educate policymakers about the impact of the pending tax.
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The Stop The HIT Coalition represents the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who are actively working to repeal the Health Insurance Tax. Since the Coalition’s formation in 2011, it has grown to include more than 35 national organizations, representing millions of small business owners across the country. For more information, please visit www.StopTheHIT.com.