COOKEVILLE – Congressman Diane Black (R-TN) has rescheduled a roundtable discussion with small business owners in Cookeville about the health insurance tax, or HIT. Black will discuss the HIT and its impact on Tennessee employees at the event set for Thursday, April 9.
Black will discuss her co-sponsorship of the Jobs and Premium Protection Act (H.R. 928), a bill that would repeal the HIT. The HIT, Black said, which took effect as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), “threatens to drive up the costs of health care plans purchased in the fully-insured market by as much as $500 per family annually, creating a substantial burden for the 88 percent of small businesses that buy those policies.”
Tennessee is home to more than 566,000 small businesses, which employ more than 1 million workers. According to research by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation, the HIT will jeopardize between 152,000-239,000 private-sector jobs across the U.S. by 2023, and reduce real GDP by as much as $20 billion-$33 billion over the same period.
The roundtable will run from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 9, at the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, 1 W. First St. To attend the event, RSVP to Susan Williams at (865) 805-6270 or susan@srw-associates.com.
Black had canceled the original roundtable back in March because of an illness.