Congressman Etheridge’s Vote Against Small Business
Bob Etheridge says he believes, “small business is the engine that makes North Carolina’s economy go” and on his campaign website he claims the health care reform bill he voted for will benefit small businesses in the Second District. The reality of ObamaCare’s impact on small businesses, however, does not match the promises made by politicians like Etheridge who voted for the budget-busting bill.
In a recent Wall Street Journal column, Dan Danner called the law “death by a thousand cuts for small business owners,” due in part to “an onslaught of new taxes and burdensome paperwork. “ Many supporters focus on the small business tax credit, but that the credit is only available for a maximum of six years and “fewer than one-third of small businesses even pass the first three (of four) tests to qualify” for it.
More importantly, Danner says, the credit is temporary, but health care cost increases are permanent. Not only will small businesses be left paying full price when the credit ends, but he says, “They’ll also be forced to deal with all sorts of new taxes, fees and mandates buried in this 2,000-page law.”
Specifically he points to the health insurance fee:
It’s a massive $8 billion tax (that escalates to $14.3 billion by 2018) on insurance companies based on their market share. This tax will be paid almost exclusively by small businesses and individuals because the law specifically excludes self-insured plans, the plans that most big businesses and labor unions offer, from having to pay the tax.
While the health insurance fee was designed to “go after” large health-insurance companies, the reality is that insurers aren’t simply going to absorb this new tax; it will be passed on to customers. Specifically, it will be passed on to the plans that 87% of small businesses and individuals buy. A study by the Federal Policy Group published last October found that the amount of taxes passed on to the typical family of four could be $500 or more per year.
Even beyond the provisions specifically aimed at small businesses, there are others which will affect them significantly. Danner notes the individual mandate in the health care bill puts additional burdens on small business people “who are sole proprietors and the least able to afford it.” He makes the point that small business owners often cannot “afford to distinguish between their own ‘personal’ resources and those of their business.” He says the individual mandate will force them to “spend money on insurance they may not want, rather than using those funds to run and grow their businesses.”
When small business owners hear Congressman Etheridge and others who voted for ObamaCare claim they will benefit from the legislation, they need to take a look at all the ways the new law will negatively affect them. A vote for ObamaCare was definitely not any way to support the “engine that makes North Carolina’s economy go.”
