WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 18, 2015) – The Stop The HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed, today commented on the repeal of the medical device tax as a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
“It is encouraging to see that Congress is willing to take steps to relieve the financial strain the PPACA is imposing on American businesses and it is time small businesses are also provided similar relief,” said Kevin Kuhlman, director of legislative affairs at the National Federation of Independent Business. “The HIT continues to place a significant burden on the shoulders of American small business owners. With bipartisan support for repeal, action to eliminate this tax would provide Main Street with some immediate relief from escalating health insurance costs.”
The HIT will impose $159 billion in new taxes on the small business community over the next decade and will collect $11 billion this year alone. It does not sunset and is expected to cost each family approximately $5,000 in higher premiums over the next 10 years according to an analysis by former Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Additionally, the HIT will reduce private sector employment by between 152,000 and 286,000 by 2023, according to a study by the NFIB Research Foundation. Roughly 57 percent of these job losses will fall on small businesses. The study also showed that the added tax would reduce U.S. real output (sales) in 2023 by between $20 billion to $33 billion.
Legislation to relieve Main Street of the burdensome tax is already on the table and has widespread support in both the House and Senate. The Jobs and Premium Protection Act 2015, a bill to repeal the HIT was introduced by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) who are joined by 34 of their colleagues in calling for repeal of the tax. Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and is cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 229.