News Item

Coalition letter urges Congress to consider bipartisan legislation repealing the Health Insurance Tax (HIT)

On December 1, 2015, the Stop the HIT Coalition sent a letter to Capitol Hill urging Congress to include bipartisan legislation repealing the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) in any end of year legislative package. The full text of the Coalition’s letter is below.

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Reid, Speaker Ryan, and Minority Leader Pelosi,

On behalf of the Stop the HIT Coalition, composed of 36 employer groups and trade associations representing millions of employees and the self-employed, we urge you to include language to repeal the health insurance tax on small business (HIT), enacted by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in any end of year legislative packages. Repealing this tax would save small business $150 billion in new costs over the next ten years.

The HIT falls squarely on the shoulders of America’s small businesses. It directly impacts those purchasing in the fully insured market where most small employers buy their
insurance. A recent study conducted by the National Federation for Independent Business (NFIB) estimates that the HIT could cost up to 286,000 jobs and nearly $33 billion in lost sales by 2023.

The Stop the HIT Coalition just released a nationwide poll, which found that nearly two thirds of small businesses surveyed were concerned about the impacts of the HIT. In the same poll, nearly eight in ten small business owners say increased health insurance costs will force them to make changes to their business — one-third say they will reduce health insurance offerings, one-third will delay business investments and one-third say they will stop hiring new employees. There is legislation in both the House and Senate to repeal this tax that has the support of over 51 percent of Congress – 275 bipartisan cosponsors between both bills. We hope you will consider a repeal of this tax in any end of year legislative packages. This will go a long way in helping make healthcare more affordable for America’s small businesses.

Read the full letter here.