US small businesses face multi-billion dollar health reform headache

Small businesses in the US have
joined forces to establish the Stop the HIT Coalition in an effort
to prevent the introduction of Health Insurance Tax (HIT) in
2014.

Forming part of the controversial
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the tax would add a
cost burden totallingbns of dollars to businesses and their
employees, claims HIT.

“For the small business community,
controlling the increasing costs of health insurance premiums has
been the top concern for decades,” said Dan Danner, CEO of the
National Federation of Business, a coalition member.

“This new tax will be almost
entirely passed from insurers to small businesses and their
employees, raising health care costs and increasing economic
uncertainty for this vital sector of our economy.”

According to the Stop the HIT
Coalition, HIT would:

• cost small businesses, their
  employees and the self-employed $87bn in the first 10 years and
  $208bn in the following 10 years; and
• impact the bottom lines of
  two million small businesses, 12m employees and the self-employed
  who purchase in the individual market and 26m employees who are
  covered by their employer.

Legislation to repeal the HIT has
recently been introduced by Republican senator Jon Kyl.

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