WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 27, 2013) – 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 yearlong delay of online enrollment for small businesses.
“HHS has once again sent a clear message to small business that they are not a priority despite the fact that they will be shouldering the burden of helping to pay for the health care law,” said Amanda Austin, Director of Federal Public Policy for National Federation of Independent Business, a leading Stop the HIT Coalition member. “Small business owners were told the health care law would make health care more affordable by offering access to a wider variety of options. Unfortunately that simply is not the case.”
“Options within the SHOP exchange have already been delayed by a year for federally-run small business exchanges and small business owners are bracing for as much as $500 in higher health care premiums per employee as a result of the health insurance tax. Announcing that they now can’t even use basic technology to enroll only adds to their confusion and frustration,” Austin continued.
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.
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.