A funding mechanism included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is gaining steam in the House of Representatives, leading to a round of huzzahs from the small business community.
Because affordable care for all will only be affordable if someone underwrites its true cost, the law includes various taxes and assessments designed to sustain the insurers that offer low-premium coverage. Among them: The Health Insurance Tax, targeting small businesses.
Now, a HIT repeal bill has been endorsed on both sides of the aisle in Congress. H.R. 928, which would relieve small businesses of the requirement to pay the tax, has been signed by 218 bipartisan Congressional cosponsors, its sponsors said Wednesday.
"I am proud to reach this important milestone and look forward to an expeditious consideration and passage of this important legislation through the House of Representatives," Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) said in a statement. Boustany and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) introduced the bill in February.
Groups lobbying for the repeal, including the National Federation of Independent Business and the Stop The HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation's small business owners, applauded the Congressional effort to put the hit on HIT.
