Letter Sent to Michigan Delegation In Washington D.C. Against ACA Health Insurance Tax

May 28, 2013

Dear Congressman:

As representatives of Michigan job providers and across all industries and geographic areas of our state, we are writing to urge you to support H.R. 763, legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Tax. This tax will raise premiums by $8 billion in 2014 increasing to $14.3 billion in 2018.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the most significant problem our members have with their health insurance offering is that of cost. Raising premiums via the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Tax is just another in a long line of disincentives that encourage more employers to discontinue offering health insurance to their employees. This tax, which is slated to go into effect in 2014, imposes a massive new sales tax on health insurance and will significantly increase the cost of health insurance, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and negatively impact the entire health care system. It also will seriously hinder our members’ ability to grow their businesses, retain and add jobs and help grow Michigan’s economy.

Employers, individuals and families alike will bear the burden of this tax. In fact, a new study by the actuarial consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimates, on average, families will be forced to pay $2,157 per year more for coverage over 10 years. This figure is significantly higher – $4,961 – for a family that gets coverage through a large employer.

As businesses try to cope with the increased health care costs resulting from this tax, it is estimated this tax will cost nearly 250,000 jobs nationwide and will force many employers to drop employer-sponsored health insurance altogether, which would have a negative impact on the health care system as a whole.

The Health Insurance Tax is bad for Michigan. We urge you to take a strong stand against this new tax because of the negative impact it would have on job creation and retention.