WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 7, 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 President Barack Obama’s assertion today that employers were to blame for rising health care costs as the implementation date of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) nears.
“On the day the unemployment rate increased to 7.6 percent, it was disappointing to see the president point a finger at job creators for higher health insurance costs actually caused by provisions under his healthcare law,” said Amanda Austin, director of federal public policy at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a leading Stop the HIT Coalition member. “Small businesses are still struggling to gain a foothold in this economy, while their concern grows
over how they will afford the new health insurance tax. Now more than ever they need productive solutions, not unwarranted blame.”
The health insurance tax, or HIT, is an often-overlooked aspect of the PPACA that taxes health insurance policies purchased in the fully-insured market – the place 88 percent of small businesses and individuals buy insurance. Over the next decade, the HIT is expected to cost the average family $5,000.
“To hear the president suggest job-creating small businesses are to blame for these cost increases is disappointing,” Austin said. “Even the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has said the HIT would increase health insurance costs for consumers. Political posturing won’t ease the financial burden this tax places on employees of small businesses; real leadership to repeal the HIT is required.”
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.