Salem, VA (June 29, 2015) – Congressman Morgan Griffith joined local small business owners today in Salem to discuss how the health insurance tax, or HIT, is impacting local businesses and employees. The event was co-hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed.
“I have been concerned for some time about the additional financial strain the health insurance tax will impose on our small businesses which, like many Ninth District families, are already facing higher health care costs,” said Congressman Griffith. “For each additional cost put upon them, they must determine how many employees they can continue to keep on the payroll, how they may have to change the health insurance they offer, etc. The health insurance tax is one of many harmful provisions included in the health care law, and legislation to repeal this tax has significant bipartisan support.”
The HIT is an often-overlooked tax in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that significantly drives up health insurance costs for millions of small businesses.
Nicole Riley, NFIB Virginia State Director, said, “Virginia is home to more than 664,000 small businesses, which employ more than 1.4 million workers. This tax will amount to $159 billion in new costs over the next decade, an amount that will be almost entirely passed on to small businesses and the self-employed who purchase coverage in the fully insured marketplace. According to research by the NFIB 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.”
Bob Rotanz, owner of Mac & Bob’s Restaurant in Salem, said, “We have been in business for over 35 years and we believe that small businesses are really hurting with the HIT tax. We want to offer our employees the best insurance yet it is becoming a real burden financially to do so. Repealing the HIT tax would go a long way in ensuring we retain a good work-force and keep our doors open to a community we love.”
Congressman Griffith is a cosponsor of H.R. 928, a bipartisan bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would repeal the HIT and permanently relieve small businesses of this burdensome tax.