SC Government and Big Businesses Already Benefiting from “Obamacare”

The Florida judge's ruling Monday against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is just one more step along the path to a final decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in a few years.  Now two Federal Judges have deemed the individual mandate to be unconstitutional and two have not found it to be so.  Of note is that no judge has found the expansion of Medicaid in the ACA to be unconstitutional.

But until the Supremes rule differently, the ACA is the law of the land and it is doing exactly what it was intended to do--make health insurance more affordable even for those who want to repeal it. 

Here is a perfect example.

Leaders of South Carolina’s state government and our state’s big businesses might continue to oppose health care reform but that’s not stopping them from taking money from the new program.

The ACA created the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) to help employers with the cost of paying for health care of their retired employees not yet eligible for Medicare.

And guess what anti-reform SC business was the first to tap funds under this ACA program? Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC.

Joining BCBS in using the ACA to make health care more affordable is the SC Budget and Control Board, Employee Insurance Program. The Budget and Control Board is chaired by ACA-hater Governor Nikki Haley.  Therest of the Board consists of other Republican leaders sworn to repeal the ACA.

Is this irony or hypocrisy? You decide.

For a complete list of SC local governments and businesses also receiving ACA funding under the ERRP, click here.

Big-business hooker

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission released its 576 page report yesterday on the causes of the great recession. They interviewed over 700 people with first-hand knowledge of how the crisis came to be.

“Avoidable” concluded the Commission. Our regulators failed us. The lack of appropriate regulatory oversight failed us. Excessive Wall Street risk-taking failed us. Big business corporate mismanagement failed us. From the Clinton administration until 2008 we were on track to the inevitable collapse of our economy.

One non-cause of the crisis according to the Commission—the government’s efforts to promote homeownership. Congratulations to the Commission for not blaming the victims.

Immediately upon the release of the Commission’s report (and probably before reading it) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce went on the attack. It called the report a “missed opportunity to produce an objective, non-partisan look at how to strengthen our financial regulatory system”.

Now there’s an oxymoron. The U.S. Chamber advocating objectivity, non-partisanship and a strong financial regulatory system.

The reality is that the U.S. Chamber has been paid very well to oppose financial regulations for a long time. Since the financial crisis it has fronted for the same financial industry that drove our economy over the cliff. It opposed the much-needed Wall Street reform legislation that passed last year and is doing everything it is getting paid to do to water down the new regulations.

If I had about $50 million and was willing to deal with the principle-less U.S. Chamber, I could get them to support the Commission’s report. It’s just business to them. No different from a high-priced hooker telling the customer, “Show me the money and I’ll do anything you want.”

Repeal this!

President Obama received rousing applause Tuesday night in his State of the Union address when he called for bipartisan agreement on repealing one part of the Affordable Care Act:

“We can start right now by correcting a flaw in the legislation that has placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses. “

All members of Congress stood up to applaud because, while the public in general might not have understood the specific issue, Congress and many small businesses understood.

The 1099 part of the ACA requires a business to report payments made for over $600 for goods and services to the IRS using a 1099. This idea started in the last Bush administration to uncover income not being reported by businesses to avoid taxes. The concept found its way into the ACA as a way to generate about $19 billon more dollars to help pay for the provisions in the Act.

The burden for a small business, if this 1099 provision should be allowed to go into effect in January of 2012, would be tremendous. Plus, there are serious doubts that the IRS could handle the amount of information that would flood the agency for it to actually be used to identify businesses owing taxes.

Democrats, Republicans, independents, the President….everybody wants to repeal this 1099 provision. Democrats tried to put the repeal in the extension of the Income Tax Cuts legislation during the recent lame duck session but were rebuffed by GOP negotiators.

The biggest problem (other than partisan politics) in repealing the measure is money. Where does Congress come up with the $19 billion it is projected the government would lose in taxes so as not to increase the deficit?

This week Senators Reid, Baucus and Landrieu introduced a legislation to repeal the 1099 reporting requirement. So where is similar legislation from the majority party in the House?

Goliath goes down

Back in November the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce sent an Action Alert to our members urging them contact the S.C. Workers’ Compensation Commission to express their opposition to an insurance industry proposal unfair to small businesses. The industry wanted to shorten the time companies had to wait to cancel a workers’ comp policy following the premium due date.

The industry tried to argue that businesses should only be given a 10-day cancellation period instead of the present 30 days. Why? To eliminate a contradiction in the law, the industry lamely argued.

Then came a December public hearing on the matter was held and the Workers’ Comp Commissioners were handed more letters from small businesses than I’m sure they’ve ever had on an issue. The opposition was strong both in writing and in my testimony. Timothy Killen, director of the State Workers’ Compensation Uninsured Employers’ Fund, put the nail in the proposal’s coffin correctly pointing out that the Commission’s 30-day cancellation policy was not at all inconsistent with the law.

At its recent monthly meeting, the Workers’ Compensation Commission unanimously rejected the insurance industry’s proposal.

Actions Alerts don’t always result in the outcome we want but this time David beat the mighty Goliath.

Only 26% favor ACA repeal

A new Associated Press poll shows that only 26% of the public now supports a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act.  Call your Representative today using this toll free number--866-922-4970--and urge a "no" vote on repeal today.  The vote won't be until tonight so you have time.  See our Action Alert for more details. CALL NOW!

Below is my opinion piece that ran in The Hill's Congressional Blog yesterday.

Vote 'NO' on $4 billion small business tax increase

By Frank Knapp, Jr. - 01/18/11

The first vote of the new U.S. House will be to increase taxes on small businesses. That’s right. A $4 billion tax hike on small businesses is exactly what Representatives are supporting if they vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Last year Congress approved $4 billion for health insurance tax credits small businesses could tap into for 2010 taxes if they offered the benefit to their employees. That figure was Congress’s best estimate of how much each year would be needed under this important ACA effort to make health insurance more affordable. About four million businesses qualify for the tax credits because they have fewer than 25 employees with average wages below $50,000.

The response from small businesses since the passage of the ACA last year has been overwhelmingly positive.

Major insurance carriers and research organizations have reported dramatic increases in small businesses offering health insurance due primarily the ACA’s tax credits. The tax credits are also making health insurance more affordable for the small businesses that were already providing the coverage to their employees.

As this real life evidence and a recent survey by the Small Business Majority show, the ACA is and will do exactly what it was intended to do—encourage small businesses to offer employer-based health insurance by making it more affordable.

With this level of support from America’s small businesses for the tax credits, it is no wonder that the House leadership is rushing an ACA repeal to a floor vote without going through the standard committee hearing process. Real small business organizations like the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and ours would have flooded committee hearings with grateful business owners.

Committee members would have heard how the owners finally could afford health insurance that will help with employee retention and recruiting. Other business owners would have explained that without the tax credits they can no longer afford to offer health insurance to employees. Committee members would have also heard stories of owners with their own pre-existing conditions who finally can have health insurance for themselves because group health insurance was now affordable.

Small business owners would have also told members that taking away the tax credits would result in a tax increase for them if they want to keep their group health insurance. Collectively a $4 billion tax increase.

Had such committee meetings been allowed, Congress would have clearly heard the voices of small business owners now realizing that all the scare tactics have been wrong about the ACA. It does not require them to provide health insurance. It does not raise their business taxes. It is not killing small business jobs.

But the ACA does offer them and their employees a chance to address the issue that has been their number one concern for over a decade—affordable health insurance.

It is time to set partisan politics aside and for each Representative to stand up tomorrow and reject this $4 billion tax increase on small business. 


Frank Knapp, Jr. is the president and CEO of The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

Oppose small business tax increase

Action Alert!!

Call 866-922-4970

Oppose $4 Billion Tax Increase on Small Business

Small businesses across South Carolina are taking advantage of new tax credits for offering health insurance to their employees. The new healthcare law put aside $4 billion this year for this effort to make health insurance premiums more affordable for small business.

But tomorrow (January 19th) the U.S. House of Representatives will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act causing a $4 billion tax increase on millions of small businesses.

We cannot turn back the clock on healthcare reform that is finally making health insurance more affordable for small businesses.

For more of the small business benefits of the Affordable Care Act, click here. To see how the Affordable Care Act will help our economy in general, click here. Besides the harm to small business, here is more information as to how repealing the Affordable Care Act will affect South Carolinians.

Contact South Carolina U.S. Representatives today and tomorrow using this toll free number to the U.S. Capital switchboard -- 1-866-922-4970*. Simply ask the operator for your House member’s office. Or you can email or fax your message directly to the offices (see S.C. members’ contact information below).
________________________________________

Here is the message:

Please vote NO on repealing or undermining the Affordable Care Act.

1. Repealing healthcare reform (Affordable Care Act) is a job killer because it is a $4 billion tax increase on small businesses currently using and soon to be using the health insurance tax credits. These small businesses will have to lay off workers to continue to afford the health insurance because of the loss of the tax credits if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

2. The Affordable Care Act does no harm to small businesses because it does not require small businesses to offer health insurance and does not create any new taxes on small businesses.

3. Repealing the Affordable Care Act was not a voter mandate. Only 17 percent of voters in November nationwide mentioned health care as one of the issues affecting their vote. The economy was the dominant issue.


U.S. Representatives                                  Fax Number
from South Carolina

Rep. Tim Scott (R - 01)                            202-225-3407
Rep. Joe Wilson (R - 02)                          202-225-2455
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R - 03)                         202-225-3216
Rep.Trey Gowdy (R - 04)                        202-226-1177
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R - 05)                   202-225-0464
Rep. James E. Clyburn (D - 06)                202-225-2313

You can also sign onto a letter to the entire U.S. House here.

*Courtesy of Families USA

MLK Jr. Day of Service

So what are you doing on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service? If you have the day off, hopefully you have plans for how you are going to donate your time to make a difference today. If you don’t, check out your local paper and see how you can get plugged in.

Many of us are working but that doesn’t mean that we still can’t do something that will make our communities, state and nation better places. Put some creative thought into it.

As for me, I’m driving to Greenville (S C) to meet with the Greenville News editorial board to talk about why it is important that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) be successfully implemented. Sue Berkowitz (SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center) and John Ruoff (SC Fair Share) are going with me. This will be our MLK Jr. Day of Service activity.

Our organizations along with AARP-SC, the SC Public Health Institute and others have put together a comprehensive talking points document with factual information on many of the issues surrounding the ACA. It is a great reference for the debate this week in the U.S. House and for future false attacks both at the federal and state level.

So today go out and volunteer to make a difference. Tomorrow I’ll challenge you to make a difference with your telephone.