WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 20, 2014) – The Stop the HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed issued the following statement from Amanda Austin, director of federal public policy for the National Federation of Independent Business, a leading coalition member, in response to the American Action Forum study on the effect of the health insurance tax on health insurance premiums:
“This new study reinforces what has now been clear for some time: the President’s health care law puts a significant financial burden on small businesses and their employees as costs from the health insurance tax increase every year. Instead of hurting small businesses, we should be finding ways to ensure job creators have the necessary resources to put America back to work and provide employees fair wages and benefits.
“With tight budgets and job-killing taxes like the HIT, it’s no surprise that the health care law is expected to reduce employment by 2.5 million people over the next decade.”
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.A recent report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office report laid responsibility on PPACA for reducing the nation’s workforce by 2.5 million people over the next decade
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 (HR 3367) has 25 bipartisan cosponsors.