Can’t afford the new law
Craig Smith, Garrison
As a North Dakota small business owner, I have a great deal of concern about the new Health Insurance Tax that was buried within the pages of the Affordable Care Act, instituted to collect $100 billion over the next decade to pay for health care reform. Many companies, including mine, cannot afford to pay for an unfair, hidden tax like this. In our current economy, profit margins are slim, and a tax of this magnitude could shut down some small businesses. In this economy, I don’t know how anyone would be able to afford to pay an additional $500 annually for each employee’s policy.
In addition to providing needed goods and services to our communities, companies like mine also contribute our time for worthy causes in our local areas. Some companies will have to scale back on these contributions because of the additional tax burden.
Laying this sort of tax on the shoulders of small businesses will only make our economy suffer even more than it has in recent years. I hope that our elected officials in Washington, D.C., will vote in favor of the Jobs and Premium Protection Act, which aims to repeal the Health Insurance Tax one and for all.