For Immediate Release
Ahead of State Rate Filings, Stop The HIT Urges Senate Leaders to Prioritize HIT Repeal in Health Reform Package
Washington, DC – Ahead of preliminary deadlines for premium rate filings, members of the Stop the HIT Coalition urged the Senate leadership to permanently repeal the health insurance tax as leaders from both sides of the aisle consider reforms that would provide stability and affordability for millions of consumers. To view the letter, click here.
Stop The HIT represents millions of small business owners, their employees and the self-employed. The Coalition has been the leading voice in the push to repeal the health insurance tax – a sales tax on health insurance that increases the cost of coverage by hundreds of dollars each year for small business owners and their employees. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) wrote in 2010 that this tax will be “largely passed through to consumers in the form of higher premiums.”
In 2015, nearly 400 Republicans and Democrats passed bipartisan legislation to suspend the HIT for one year, providing cost-savings and relief to consumers and small business employees across the country. Absent Congressional action, the HIT is projected to increase to $14.3 billion in 2018. Permanent repeal of the HIT is critical to protect these individuals from higher costs as a result of the tax in 2018.
In its letter to Senate Majority and Minority leaders as well the minority and majority whip, Stop The HIT Coalition members called for HIT repeal to be included as part of ongoing health reform proposals. Coalition members note that more than half of the entire tax is paid by those with incomes between $10,000 – $50,000 – a serious cost that continues to burden middle-class families.
For more information on the impact of the health insurance tax, click here.
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Media Contact: edixon@reservoircg.com
About Stop The HIT: 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.
Additional information may be found at www.stopthehit.com | Twitter: @StopTheHIT | YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/StopTheHIT | Blog: http://www.stopthehit.com/blog | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StopTheHIT.