Dear Editor:
As a business owner in Union, I know how expensive health insurance premiums are already, so I am very concerned about the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) that will be implemented in 2014 as part of federal healthcare reform. Congress must pass S.603 to repeal the tax.
Currently, my wife and I pay well over two thousand dollars per month just to cover our health insurance premiums. This is a mortgage payment for many people, and with my pre-existing conditions, I have to have health insurance. It would be great to have another employee to handle some of the workload, but the HIT would just levy a higher premium for this additional policy. Fortunately, the employee we have currently has insurance through his wife’s employer. As small as our business is, I consider it a “micro-business.” No matter what term is used to describe the company, however, the impact will be the same for the 1.7 million other entities that will be hurt by this tax.
It was irresponsible for legislators to let this HIT slip through when reviewing the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, so now we need our members of Congress to take a stand against it and repeal it. There are already too many small companies being driven out by large corporations, which is shameful considering the major role that small businesses have played in keeping our economy going. Many will agree that small businesses are the backbone of this nation, so we need support, not new taxes, during these challenging times.
Sincerely,
Robert Groves
Union
