WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 12, 2013) – The Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the country’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed, released the following statement in response to a recent poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates and Momentum Analysis that revealed Americans are concerned about the impact of the health insurance tax, or HIT, on small businesses and their employees.
The HIT is a little known part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACAP) set to take effect in 2014. The tax will be assessed to health insurance policies purchased on the fully-insured market, where 88 percent of small businesses purchase insurance policies for their employees. According to analysis by former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Eakin-Holtz, the HIT will cost the average family $5,000 in higher premiums over the course of the next 10 years.
According to the McLaughlin/Momentum Analysis poll, 50 percent of respondents were opposed to the HIT, including 35 percent who were strongly opposed. Just 36 percent of respondents said they supported such a tax. In addition, 48 percent of people said they expected health insurance costs to rise as a result of the HIT and 53 percent believe the HIT needs to be repealed or changed.
“It is encouraging, yet unsurprising to see such unhappiness about the HIT,” said Amanda Austin, director of federal public policy at the National Federation of Independent Business, a Stop the HIT Coalition member. “When people learn about this hidden tax on small businesses and their employees, they recognize the serious negative economic consequences, including higher health insurance premiums and reduced job creation. It’s time for policymakers to step up and repeal the HIT.”
Legislation to repeal the HIT has been introduced in both houses of Congress. S. 603 and H.R. 763 combined have more than 200 bipartisan cosponsors.
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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.
– See more at: http://www.stopthehit.com/pressrelease/2013/06/12/poll-shows-half-americans-opposed-hit-think-health-costs-will-rise#sthash.R797nIgY.dpuf