Florida Senate - 2013                                    SM 1600
       
       
       
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       4-00251-13                                            20131600__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to repeal the health insurance tax
    4         contained in sections 9010 and 10905 of the Patient
    5         Protection and Affordable Care Act and section 1406 of
    6         the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, sections 9010 and 10905 of the Patient Protection
    9  and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. No. 111-148) and section 1406
   10  of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (Pub. L. No.
   11  111-152) impose an unprecedented new tax on health insurance
   12  which numerous policy experts agree will be passed on to
   13  individuals, working families, small employers, and seniors,
   14  contradicting a primary goal of health reform by making health
   15  care more expensive, and
   16         WHEREAS, the health insurance tax could cause health care
   17  premiums for working families in Florida to rise by as much as
   18  $4,881 to $7,767 on average over a ten-year period, and
   19         WHEREAS, the health insurance tax will impact small
   20  employers nationwide over the next decade, reducing future
   21  private-sector jobs by 125,000, with 59 percent of those jobs
   22  being eliminated from small businesses, and reducing potential
   23  sales by at least $18 billion, with 50 percent of that loss
   24  being borne by small businesses, and
   25         WHEREAS, Florida is estimated to be in the top five states
   26  with the highest average aggregate impact on Medicare Advantage
   27  beneficiaries between 2014 and 2023, with the ten-year impact
   28  per person estimated at $4,181, and
   29         WHEREAS, according to the recommended budget released by
   30  Governor Rick Scott, the cost of the health insurance tax on
   31  Medicaid is estimated at $31.6 million, $13.1 million of which
   32  will come from state funds due to an annual tax that will be
   33  placed on health insurance providers under the new law, based on
   34  preliminary estimates for the 2013-2014 year for Medicaid
   35  premiums, and
   36         WHEREAS, higher premiums are a disincentive for everyone to
   37  obtain insurance coverage, particularly younger, healthier
   38  people, who are likely to drop their policies due to increased
   39  expense, further eroding the risk pool and making coverage even
   40  less affordable, NOW, THEREFORE,
   41  
   42  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   43  
   44         That the Congress of the United States is urged to enact
   45  legislation to repeal the health insurance tax contained in
   46  sections 9010 and 10905 of the Patient Protection and Affordable
   47  Care Act and section 1406 of the Health Care and Education
   48  Reconciliation Act to make health care more affordable for
   49  working families, individuals, and businesses.
   50         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   51  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   52  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   53  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   54  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.