WASHINGTON (March 19, 2013) — The health insurance tax mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will cost the U.S. private sector between 146,000 and 262,000 jobs by 2022, according to an updated study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Research Foundation.
The health insurance premium tax is structured as an annual fee on insurers beginning in 2014, the NFIB study said. The tax applies to all U.S. health insurance providers, and is expected to bring the federal government about $90 billion in revenue through 2020, it said.
"Analysis has determined that the cost of what is ostensibly an industry fee targeted at health insurers will ultimately be shifted to purchasers of health insurance," the study claimed.
A study by a former director of the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the tax will raise health insurance premiums by nearly $5,000 per family over the decade, the federation said.
The NFIB's Business Size Impact Module demonstrated that 59 percent of the lost jobs caused by the increase in employers' health insurance premium costs will come from small businesses. This will amount in a reduction in U.S. sales of $19 billion to $35 billion by 2022, the association said.
The full study is available at the NFIB's website.