WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 8, 2014) – With the implementation of the President’s health care law in full swing, America’s small businesses are raising concerns about a hidden new tax that is costing them and their employees big. The Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed, today launched a small business pushback campaign against rising health care costs. A key component of the efforts is an online payment inquiry or “invoice” tool, which allows small business owners and their employees to estimate the cost of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance tax, or HIT, and relay that cost directly to their Member of Congress.
“Small businesses on Main Street are tired of being told that the president’s health care law is making health care more affordable when in reality it is only raising costs and limiting choice,” said Amanda Austin, Director of Federal Public Policy at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a leading Stop the HIT Coalition member. “The HIT is a perfect example of this – small businesses and their employees are left paying $145 billion in the first 10 years alone to fund the health care law while any benefits they might receive just continue to be delayed. This is discrimination against small businesses, pure and simple.”
Using the Coalition’s new online “invoice” tool, small business owners and their employees can calculate how much the small business health insurance tax will cost them. This dollar amount can be sent, in the form of a mock invoice, to their Members of Congress requesting feedback and suggestions on how to pay for the added financial burden.
“Small businesses are crucial to rebuilding an economy that allows all Americans to prosper,” Katie Mahoney, Executive Director of Health Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said. “We need to work to find ways to ensure small businesses and their employees have the tools to build on their current success, not hinder future growth.”
“This tax will raise health care costs for the very Americans the health care law was meant to assist, said Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation. “The new health insurance tax (HIT) will increase health insurance costs for farmers and ranchers by imposing a levy on the net premiums of health insurance companies. This additional cost will be passed on to those who buy their own health insurance.”
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 tens of millions of 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 250 bipartisan cosponsors. A separate bill to provide relief from the HIT for two years (H.R. 3367) has 48 bipartisan cosponsors.