By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER

Ohio Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The health insurance tax (HIT) that came into effect in 2014 imposed a levy on the net premiums of health insurance companies. That cost is passed on to consumers.

The Health Insurance Premium Reduction Act (U.S. House Resolution 5963) states it would protect farmers, ranchers and other small businesses by delaying the tax until after 2020.

In 2014, $8 billion in excise taxes were levied, and $11 billion was collected in 2015 and 2016 each year, according to a statement by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

The tax is on hold through 2019 but since the cost of the HIT increases each year, Americans will face an even higher HIT impact in 2020, AFBF President Zippy Duvall wrote in a letter encouraging House members to support the measure.

“This delay is needed to provide stability to small-business owners and middle-income families so they can continue health care coverage,” he noted.

This tax particularly impacts farmers, small businesses and others who are self-employed and don’t receive insurance through their employer because those costs go into the premiums and the premiums are out-of-pocket, said Jack Morrissey spokesperson for Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.).

Along with Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Walorski introduced H.R. 5963. The tax is imposed on the insurers, but it gets passed along to consumers.

“Congresswoman Walorski introduced this bill and supported delaying this tax to protect small businesses and farmers from these added costs,” Morrissey said. “She is trying to reduce these added burdens that farmers and small businesses don’t need right now.”

She would support eliminating the bill, but is looking for any solution that is available, Morrissey added. The legislators who introduced the act are going to start by trying to ensure it doesn’t come into effect for that next year, and then continue working to find a more long-term solution.

Morrissey feels confident H.R. 5963 will be passed, whether it comes up for an individual vote or is attached to a bigger piece of legislation, because it is bipartisan. “That’s an important an important part of getting a piece of legislation across the finish line, having it be bipartisan.”