On behalf of Gulf Coast Bank & Trust and our 650+ employees, I would like to thank Congressman Steve Scalise for his support of the bipartisan legislation that ultimately repealed the Health Insurance Tax (HIT). As a community banker and father of three young children, I know first-hand how relieved many business owners and families are that they no longer need to worry about this burdensome tax.
Suspended in 2019, the health insurance tax will reappear in 2020 before disappearing for good in 2021. The tax has imposed a yearly fee on insurance companies that provide health policies, including “individual policies, small groups, non self-insured employers, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Part D, and Medicare Advantage,” according to Center Forward, a political action committee.
Though paid by insurance companies, the tax was cited as a cause of rising insurance costs for consumers, as providers sought to recoup the expense by hiking premiums. Some groups, like the trade association America’s Health Insurance Plan, had called for this tax’s repeal because it made health care more difficult to afford “for the very people who need the most help affording health care.”
An Obamacare tax on company and individual health plans, the HIT would have unnecessarily raised the cost of coverage and hurt many businesses, families, and communities, including 23 million employees across the nation and many in Louisiana.
For our bank, the HIT would have cost $500 per worker annually that we currently provide healthcare to. This tax could have forced us to hold off on raises and investments and use different health plans with more out-of-pocket costs. It not only would have increased our business costs, but our families would have been impacted too.
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Fortunately, small businesses and families have a friend in Rep. Scalise. He understood that this tax was totally unsustainable for employers and acted to protect us. I thank Rep. Scalise for his dedication to the Louisiana economy and to reasonable, fair healthcare costs. He continues to bring much-needed relief to our community and we appreciate his commitment!
Sincerely,
Kim Carver, Senior Vice President
Gulf Coast Bank & Trust
New Orleans
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