WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2013 – Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed applauded the testimony of small business owner and member of
the International Franchise Association (IFA), the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide, who testified today before a House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee hearing entitled, “Tax-Related Provisions in the President’s Health Care Law.” IFA is a member of the Stop the HIT Coalition.
“The Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable,” said Shelly Sun, co-founder & CEO of BrightStar Care and a member of the IFA board of directors, during her testimony. “It adds taxes, costs and fees, while threatening the economic viability and job creation opportunities for many of our nation’s small businesses.”
In her written testimony, Sun also outlined the significant impact the Health Insurance Tax, a tax born from the PPACA that is slated to be placed on insurance providers in 2014 could have on small businesses. In the testimony, she wrote, “The tax amounts to billions of dollars each year on the health insurance industry, and this cost will be passed directly to consumers in the fully-insured marketplace in the form of higher premiums. These taxes are estimated to reach $87 billion dollars between 2014 and 2019, adding to the crushing burden of health insurance premiums that employers already bear.”
The HIT is especially misguided as it is cloaked as a fee, when it is surely a tax placed on insurance providers and will undoubtedly be passed on to small businesses, their employees and the self-employed. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed this, stating that the HIT “would be largely passed through to consumers [small and family-owned businesses] in the form of higher premiums for private coverage.” Increasing the cost of health insurance plans for small business owners and the self-employed make offering affordable coverage, or any coverage at all, to employees more difficult.
“Hearings like today’s are critical to ensuring Congress understand the serious impact this tax will have on small business owners and everyday working Americans,” said Director of Federal Public Policy at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a leading Stop the HIT Coalition Member. “Now is the time to protect small businesses by eliminating this burdensome tax and putting the country back on track for economic recovery.”
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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.