WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2014) – The Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed, today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcement of the delay of the employee choice offering arrangement within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange marketplaces for small businesses in 18 states until at least 2016.
“The PPACA has increasingly become a lose-lose situation for small businesses as once again the law’s potential benefits are delayed while the added costs and uncertainty remain,” said Kevin Kuhlman, Manager of Legislative Affairs for National Federation of Independent Business, a leading Stop the HIT Coalition member. “Basic online enrollment within the SHOP exchange has already been delayed by a year for federally-run small business exchanges and now they will have to wait at least an additional year and a half to examine increased choices. The message from HHS is clear that small businesses are not a priority despite the fact that they will be shouldering the burden of paying for it in the form of the health insurance tax.”
The HIT is an often-overlooked aspect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that taxes health insurance policies purchased on the fully-insured market – the marketplace where 88 percent of small businesses and individuals buy insurance. Over the next decade, the HIT is expected to affect 34 million Americans and cost the average family $5,000. Labor unions and large corporations are largely exempt from the tax. Small businesses and their employees can find out how much the HIT will cost them and send a letter to their Congressperson using the Payment Inquiry Tool.
Legislation to repeal the HIT has been introduced in both houses of Congress. S. 603 and H.R. 763 combined have more than 250 bipartisan cosponsors, and legislation to provide relief from the HIT for two years (H.R. 3367) has 70 bipartisan sponsors.