Health & Fitness
Stop The HIT Coalition Statement on Re-Election of President Obama
The Stop The HIT Coalition, a bipartisan group supporting small business, encourages President Obama to work with the new Congress to repeal the Health Insurance Tax on small business.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 7, 2012) – The Stop The HIT Coalition, a bipartisan group supporting small business, issued the following statement on the re-election of President Barack Obama for a second term:
“Now that the elections are behind us, it is time for Washington to get back to work and remove prohibitive taxes and costs on our job creators,” said Amanda Austin, Director of Federal Public Policy, National Federation of Independent Business. “The need to repeal the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) on small business has received high bipartisan support during the 112th Congress with legislation in the House gaining 226 cosponsors and with companion legislation in the Senate. We encourage President Obama to make good on his praise of small business during the campaign by working with the new Congress to repeal this tax which is already holding back hiring at the small business level.”
One of the largest tax increases included in the healthcare reform law, the HIT will fall largely on the small business community:
- The HIT will impact 2 million small businesses, 12 million employees and the self-employed who purchase their own policy in the individual market and 26 million employees who are covered by their employers;
- Studies show, on average, the HIT will cost each family about $500 a year or $5,000 in higher premiums over the decade;
- The HIT would reduce private sector employment by between 125,000 and 249,000 jobs in 2021; and
- The HIT would reduce U.S. real output (sales) in 2021 by between $18 billion and $30 billion.
The Stop The HIT Coalition represents the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who are actively working to repeal the Health Insurance Tax. Since the Coalition’s formation last May, it has grown to include more than 35 national organizations, representing millions of small business owners across the country. The Coalition’s website enables small business owners and employees to sign a petition and write a letter to their Representatives in Washington, urging them to repeal this tax.