Press Release

HIT 1-Year Relief Provision Included in House Omnibus Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Klass, (609) 713-4243, kelly.klass@nfib.org

December 16, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Stop The HIT Coalition today applauded leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives for including a provision that provides a 1-year suspension of the Health Insurance Tax, or HIT, in the omnibus spending bill. The measure would provide much-needed relief to small businesses whose healthcare costs have increased as a result of the HIT.

“The House bill would give small businesses a brief period of relief from one of the most burdensome taxes in the health care law,” said Amanda Austin, Vice President of Public Policy at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “It isn’t ideal, but it’s certainly a positive step. We strongly encourage Congress to pass the measure and use the next 12 months to find a way to repeal the HIT tax altogether.”

The Stop the HIT Coalition is a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and self-employed. The Coalition continues to push for a full repeal of the HIT, which took effect in 2014 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The tax cost businesses more than $8 billion in 2014, and is expected to collect over $11 billion from Main Street consumers this year.

A national poll conducted earlier this year found that nearly eight in ten small employers (78%) have been forced to make changes to their business, including layoffs, delays in hiring, fewer health benefits, and delays in other investments as a result of the HIT and other related taxes. Unless Congress takes action, the HIT could jeopardize up to 286,000 private sectors jobs by 2023, according to a study by the NFIB Research Foundation.

The HIT impacts 1.7 million small businesses, 11 million employees and the self- employed who purchase in the individual market, and 23 million employees who are covered by their employer. For more information, please visit http://www.StopTheHIT.com/.

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