Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader Pelosi:
On behalf of America鈥檚 Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), I am writing to express our strong support for legislation (H.R. 6311) that proposes a two-year suspension of the health insurance tax. We appreciate that the House will vote on this bipartisan legislation later this week.
This proposal builds upon the one-year suspension for 2019 that Congress approved earlier this year with strong bipartisan support. Providing another temporary reprieve, as work continues to fully repeal the health insurance tax, will help reduce premiums and make health care more affordable for all Americans.
Separate proposals to strengthen Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), as included in both H.R. 6311 and H.R. 6199, also will be helpful in giving consumers more flexibility to plan for their future health care expenses.
Under current law, the health insurance tax is scheduled to go back into effect in 2020. If this tax is allowed to resume in 2020, the Congressional Budget Office estimates it would impose $161 billion in higher costs on the American people over the next ten years. According to a separate October 2017 analysis by Oliver Wyman, the premium impact of the health insurance tax for 2020-2021 will total, overthis two-year period, an estimated:
- $399 for consumers who buy coverage in the individual market;
- $432 for small business employees;
- $572 for Medicare Advantage enrollees; and
- $449 per enrollee for state Medicaid programs.
To spare consumers from these burdensome costs, we encourage you to place a high priority on ensuring that a two-year suspension of the health insurance tax is signed into law.
Thank you again for considering our views on this important issue. We look forward to working with you to move HIT relief legislation through Congress and to the President鈥檚 desk.
Sincerely,
Matt D. Eyles
President and CEO