Now that the government shutdown is over and the debt ceiling has been raised, Congress needs to turn its attention to providing relief to the 34 million hardworking Americans who will be dealt a financial blow when the HIT takes effect Jan. 1.
The health insurance tax, or HIT, will increase annual insurance costs for the average family by $500 for each of the next 10 years and hurt small businesses’ ability to grow and create jobs in communities across the country. In fact, according to an analysis from the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation, the HIT would reduce overall employment by more than 250,000 over the next decade, and cost the nation as much as $35 billion during that time.
Those numbers aren’t just data from a study; they have a real-world impact on actual people. Our Your Story page chronicles some of effects the HIT will have.
Paul Faraci, for example, owns a Denver law firm and has seen his business grow from a brand new startup to 15 employees in just five years. While he would like to hire more people and has the work to do so, the HIT and increasing health care costs make it impractical.
Van Tilbury, the owner of East-Harding Construction in Little Rock, AR, says rising health care costs already make it difficult to provide the same benefits to his employees as in the past. The HIT, Van says, would likely cause him to reduce the benefits available to his employees.
Gina Martin, the co-owner of Little Rock Tours and Travel, has seen her small business grow to 47 employees. But the HIT will slow the growth of Gina’s company and reduce future hiring.
Fortunately, there are still 71 days to repeal the HIT. Follow our HIT Countdown on Twitter and Facebook and contact your member of Congress to share how the HIT will impact you.