NFIB: Health Insurance Tax To Cost Private-Sector Jobs

The National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) Research Foundation has released an updated study showing the significant number of jobs that will be lost by the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) has a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The study is available at nfib.com/hitcost.

Using independent cost estimates, the Research Foundation’s Business Size Impact Module (BSIM) predicts the rise in cost of employer-sponsored insurance stemming from the HIT will result in a reduction in private-sector employment of 152,000 to 286,000 jobs by 2023, with 57% of the job losses coming from small businesses. This will amount to a reduction of U.S. real output—sales—by between $20 billion to $33 billion during the same time frame. A similar study released in 2012 predicted a loss of 146,000 to 262,000 jobs and $19 billion to $35 billion in sales by 2022.

The BSIM is a multi-region forecasting model that analyzes the impact of policy shocks on the economy with the ability to forecast the economic impact of such policies on U.S. businesses, differentiated by size. For the purpose of the updated HIT study, the BSIM adhered to the Small Business Administration definition of a small business as firms with fewer than 500 employees.

“The HIT represents a new tax on small businesses that raises insurance costs for an already struggling Main Street and is contrary to the goals of health care reform,” said NFIB director of federal public policy Amanda Austin. “Singling out job creators for tax increases makes no sense for our economy, is short-sighted, and wrong for our nation’s growth. NFIB will continue to highlight the very real and negative effects the HIT will have on small businesses and everyday Americans as we work to pass bipartisan legislation to repeal the HIT.”