If Republicans don’t act quickly, they will allow a tax increase to go into effect under their watch. Starting January 1st, 2018, the Obamacare health insurance tax will go into effect harming small businesses that provide healthcare to their employees, middle class families through higher premiums, and seniors that purchase Medicare advantage plans.
If the Health Insurance tax is allowed to go into effect next year, it will total $14.3 billion in higher taxes in 2018, and roughly $150 billion over the next decade.
Across the country, the health insurance tax hits 11 million households that purchase health care through the individual insurance market. This tax also hits 23 million households covered through their employers, and 1.7 million small businesses. Half of this tax is paid by those earning less than $50,000 a year. According to research by the American Action Forum, this tax is responsible for increasing premiums by an average of $5,000 per family over a decade.
According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the health insurance tax has cost an estimated 286,000 small business jobs and $33 billion in lost sales.
Clearly, this tax would be devastating on small businesses, middle class families, and seniors.
The last thing taxpayers need is another Obamacare tax to go into effect, and 36 conservative groups and activists recently told lawmakers that they must act so to prevent the health insurance tax from harming Americans.