Washington, D.C. (November 13, 2014) – The Stop the HIT coalition today commented on a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which found that only 12,000 businesses have enrolled in the state-run Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). This news comes after a year-long delay of expanding the SHOP marketplace to the 32 states that have yet to implement the exchange for small business owners and their employees.
“The costs of ObamaCare for small businesses are very real, but more data is coming to light that points out the benefits are not. Again and again the concerns raised by small business are being overlooked despite the growing evidence that the health care law is simply not meeting their needs. It is time for Congress to take a hard look at ways to provide a real benefit for small businesses, such as delaying the small business health insurance tax, and prove their commitment to Main Street,” said Kevin Kuhlman, director of legislative affairs at the National Federation of Independent Business. “Addressing the HIT would be a win for Main Street.”
The GAO study shows a clear failure on the part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to offer small businesses the options they need to provide adequate and affordable health insurance coverage to their families and employees. The health insurance tax (HIT), an often overlooked aspect of the PPACA, is a contributing factor to the rising cost of health care for small business owners and their employees.
In fact, Jonathan Gruber, a man credited with being an architect of the health insurance bill, is quoted as saying the HIT was included in the package because it was an easy way to tax consumers and increase premiums because the American public would not notice.
The HIT is a tax on health insurance policies purchased on the fully-insured market – the marketplace where 88 percent of small businesses and individuals buy insurance. Legislation to repeal the tax has been introduced in both houses of Congress. S. 603 and H.R. 763 combined have more than 255 bipartisan cosponsors, and legislation to provide relief from the HIT for two years (H.R. 3367) has 98 bipartisan sponsors.