Press Release

ME Business Leaders Urge Congress to Delay HIT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Dixon; edixon@reservoircg.com

Maine Business Leaders Urge Congress to Immediately
Delay the Health Insurance Tax

Hampden, ME (November 15, 2017) – State and local business leaders called on Congress to delay the Health Insurance Tax, or HIT, at a roundtable meeting today in Hampden, ME. The discussion included representatives from The Maine Chamber, small business owners, and current and former State Legislators, among others. Attendees expressed concerns about the impact of the HIT on Maine small businesses, and the self-employed if the tax is not delayed next year.

“We keep saying it every year, at some point it becomes more and more difficult to assume the increased cost in health care.  This year some of these increases are avoidable if we can repeal the Hit Tax, it just makes sense,” Dave Plowman, owner of PDQ Door.

“Double digit increases in health insurance cost is what many are experiencing in Maine with their renewals.  These increases will cause small businesses to pull back on hiring and expanding, its unavoidable.  The solution is to repeal the tax and let Congress go back to figuring out how to fix the market that does not include having small business foot the bill,” Jon Courtney former Senate Majority Leader and small business owner.

The HIT is a federal tax on health insurance plans purchased by small business owners, the self-employed, and workers who receive their health care coverage through an employer. Without action by Congress to delay the tax, the HIT is expected to increase premiums nationwide by $14.3 billion next year, when the tax goes into effect in January. A recent study by Oliver Wyman shows that families in the small employer market could be faced with $500 on average in higher premiums in 2018 as a result of the HIT.

The HIT has also been estimated to impact 156 million Americans, with 50% of those paying the HIT earning an income between $10,000 and $50,000. “It’s not just the small business owner that will feel the burden, it’s also their employees when the costs are passed on to them.  In today’s economy, neither segment can afford to assume these costs.”  Said John Picchiotti, state representative and small business owner.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins has supported legislation in Congress that would delay implementation of the HIT tax. The effort to prevent a tax hike in the form of the HIT has been a top priority for small businesses and the employer community, from the hospitality industry to the agricultural sector.

Maine is home to more than 142,000 small businesses, which employ more than 278,000 private sector workers. According to research by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation, the HIT will jeopardize between 152,000 to 286,000 private-sector jobs across the U.S. by 2023, and reduce real GDP by as much as $20 billion to $33 billion over the same period.

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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.