Carmel, Ind., March 13, 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 Carmel area discussed how 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 Indiana’s representatives to join the fight in eliminating this harmful tax.
“Small business owners like me are constantly worried about the increasing costs of health care because it’s our primary inhibitor to growth,” said Ken Bush, owner of Intus Technologies, LLC in Indianapolis. “If the government allows the health insurance tax to be implemented next year, it will significantly increase my operating costs and limit my ability to expand at a time when small businesses should be helping with our economic recovery.”
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 450,000 Indiana small businesses and 2.5 million 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.
“The resilience of small businesses is an essential part of our nation’s economic recovery,” said Barbara Quandt, Indiana state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. “We need to create an environment that helps Indiana businesses grow and create new jobs, but the health insurance tax will only increase their financial burden and seriously hinder their ability to grow.”
Today’s event was hosted by Indiana small businesses 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 visitwww.StopTheHIT.com.