releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20140912201806/http://shea-porter.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/shea-porter-leads-push-to-expand-small-business-health-care-tax-credit
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://web.archive.org/web/20140912201806/http://shea-porter.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/shea-porter-leads-push-to-expand-small-business-health-care-tax-credit | Shea-Porter Leads Push to Expand Small Business Health Care Tax Credit | 2013-12-17 | 2013 | 2013-12 | Democrat | House | NH | Carol Shea-Porter | S001170 | web.archive.org | legacy | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ben Wakana, 202-225-5456 WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) is leading a push to help New Hampshire small businesses provide quality health insurance for their employees. Shea-Porter has sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) small business tax credit be expanded to help more small employers purchase insurance policies in 2014. As part of its goal of making health insurance more affordable for small businesses, the ACA created the Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit. Beginning in 2014, the tax credit will increase in value (worth up to 50% of a business’s premium costs), but will only be available to employers who purchase plans through the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP Exchange. The SHOP was planned as an online marketplace where small businesses could shop for health insurance. However, it has faced setbacks and delays, and will not be fully operational for the next year. Therefore, Shea-Porter led a letter to President Obama requesting a regulatory change to ensure that small employers can apply the tax credit to any ACA-compliant group plan, whether or not it is offered on a SHOP Exchange. “Given the unfortunate news that the federally facilitated SHOP Exchange website will not be operational for the duration of 2014 enrollment, I urge you to expand small business owners’ options for next year,” Shea-Porter wrote. “Small employers should be able to apply the tax credit to any ACA-compliant group plan, whether or not it was intended to be offered for sale on a SHOP exchange, in states with Federally Facilitated Marketplaces.” In November, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the SHOP Exchange will not offer online enrollment until 2014, a one-year delay from a launch that was initially planned for this past October. Prior to that announcement, HHS released a rule that would postpone employee choice and the premium aggregator in the SHOP Exchange until 2015. The premium aggregator is a tool that consolidates billing for employers who have employees enrolled in multiple qualified health plans. Given the recent administrative delays, requiring employers to buy a SHOP plan in order to qualify for the tax credit is unfair and counterproductive to the Affordable Care Act’s goal of enabling small businesses to finally offer their employees health insurance. “During the Affordable Care Act’s development, improving options for small businesses was a key consideration; during the Administration’s implementation, small businesses must not be relegated to an afterthought,” Shea-Porter wrote. “This law’s success requires that small business owners, and the workers they employ, succeed in gaining access to high-quality, affordable health insurance options.” Throughout 2013 Congresswoman Shea-Porter has fought for more health insurance choices and competition for New Hampshire residents and small businesses. She sent multiple letters to the Obama Administration citing her frustration with the Affordable Care Act’s rollout and detailing her desire to expand health insurance competition in the Granite State. She has also expressed her concern to Anthem about the insurer's narrow network of providers and doctors. Last week, Shea-Porter announced that an addition health insurer, Minuteman Health Inc., will enter New Hampshire’s ACA Marketplace for 2015 coverage. Representatives Ann Kuster (NH-02) and Michael Michaud (ME-02) also signed the letter. Full text of the letter is below. +++ President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama: We are writing to request an expansion of tax assistance eligibility for small businesses that choose to offer health insurance to their employees in 2014, in light of multiple delays of Affordable Care Act provisions designed to help small businesses. During the Affordable Care Act’s development, improving options for small businesses was a key consideration; during the Administration’s implementation, small businesses must not be relegated to an afterthought. This law’s success requires that small business owners, and the workers they employ, succeed in gaining access to high-quality, affordable health insurance options. At the time of the Affordable Care Act’s enactment, many small employers did not offer health insurance because of prohibitive costs and other challenges unique to small businesses. That is why the law included the Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit, which was established to help small employers offer health insurance to their employees. Current regulations limit eligibility for claiming the 2014 Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit to employers who will offer coverage purchased through a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange. Given the unfortunate news that the federally facilitated SHOP Exchange website will not be operational for the duration of 2014 enrollment, I urge you to expand small business owners’ options for next year. Small employers should be able to apply the tax credit to any ACA-compliant group plan, whether or not it was intended to be offered for sale on a SHOP exchange, in states with Federally Facilitated Marketplaces. Even before the news that business owners will be unable to access the federal SHOP exchange website in 2014, their options on the exchanges had already been limited by a March 2013 HHS decision to delay employee choice and premium aggregation options. For many employers, this delay limited the attraction of plans offered on the SHOP exchanges. Given this series of administrative delays, requiring employers to buy a SHOP plan in order to qualify for the tax credit is unfair and counterproductive to the Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit’s goal of enabling small employers to finally offer their employees health insurance. There is ample documentation that this credit needs to be changed in order to fulfill its potential benefit to American small businesses. A May 2012 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that actual small employer credit claims had been much lower than initial estimates. The report showed that the tax credit had been underutilized because of several factors, including a perception among business owners that the financial benefits offered did not outweigh the complexity of documenting credit eligibility. It is my hope and expectation that this calculus will change in 2014, given that the maximum credit amount will increase significantly. The GAO report also suggested that changing eligibility requirements could increase employer take-up rates. By agreeing to remove the requirement that employers select SHOP plans in order to qualify for the tax credit, the Administration can ensure that employers can apply the tax credit to a range of plans, as originally intended. The availability of these options will surely increase employer take-up of the credit, and extend new health insurance options to many small business employees. Given the disappointingly diminished role of the SHOP exchanges in 2014, it is fair and proper to offer small businesses this additional option. We look forward to your determination of when and how such a regulatory change may be implemented. Sincerely, Carol Shea-Porter Member of Congress Ann Kuster Member of Congress Michael H. Michaud Member of Congress ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |