Michigan Small Businesses Hold Troy Roundtable on Impact of Health Insurance Tax (HIT)

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tTROY – Michigan small business owners and advocates gathered for a roundtable event today to discuss the threat and implications of the Health Insurance Tax (HIT). The HIT will take effect in 2014 and small business owners believe it will directly impact each of Michigan’s 820,244 small businesses, severely reducing their ability to expand, create new jobs and contribute to the state’s economy.

tDuring the event, small business owners from the Troy area had the chance to meet with fellow local owners and employees to examine the possible effects the HIT will have on the small business community as well as the significance of repealing the costly tax.

t“The state of Michigan is known for hard work and resilience, and our small businesses are the best at demonstrating this,” said Charlie Owens, NFIB Michigan State Director. “Small businesses account for 98.3 percent of Michigan’s total employers and provide jobs to our residents at a time when they are needed most. Michigan cannot afford a tax so devastating to our small business community.”

tThe HIT, hidden within the many pages of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was originally intended to target large insurance companies. Small business owners believe that this tax will directly fall upon small business owners and their employees and the self-employed, totaling $87 billion within the first ten years, and $208 billion in the next decade.

t“If Michigan, and our nation as a whole, hopes to turn our economy and unemployment around, elected officials must repeal the HIT. If it is not repealed, our small businesses will suffer the consequences and their ability to employ people and provide employees with benefits will be seriously impacted,” Diane Dearing, owner of Display Structures, Inc., said.  “This will only result in more people joining the ranks of the uninsured.”

tToday’s event was hosted by members of the Stop The HIT Coalition, which represents small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who support a repeal of the HIT and seek to educate policymakers about the impact of the pending tax.

tAccording to the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation, the HIT will:

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  • ttReduce private sector employment nationally by 250,000 jobs by 2021
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  • ttResult in $30 billion in lost sales through 2021, with 59 percent of those losses falling on small business
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  • ttNationally impact the bottom lines of 2 million small business, 12 million employees and self-employed individuals and 26 million employees who are covered by their employer
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  • ttReduce the take-home pay by $500 a year or $5,000 in just the first decade for an employee with a family plan

tLast May, small business groups from across the country announced the formation of the “Stop The HIT” Coalition.  Since then, legislation to repeal the HIT has been introduced in both the Senate and House. Senators John Barrasso, Orrin Hatch and Olympia Snowe introduced S. 1880, “The Jobs and Premium Protection Act and companion legislation in the House, H.R. 1370 currently has over 100 cosponsors. The Coalition has grown to more than 35 national organizations, representing millions of employees from across the country.  The Stop The HIT Coalition has aggressively generated grassroots support for repeal of the HIT by educating policymakers and activating its members who will be directly impacted by the pending tax.