Say No to Another Employer Tax

With employers facing higher and higher health insurance costs, now is not the time to adopt another tax to jack up those costs even higher—yet that’s just what a legislative proposal aims to do.

SB 21 includes a provision for a new assessment to help fund a program called the State Innovation Model (SIM).  While the goals of SIM–increasing healthcare quality and decreasing costs–are positive, this proposal for how to fund the program will have a negative impact on employers’ health insurance costs.

The SIM assessment is a $3.2 million bill for self-insured employers and health insurance carriers. And the reality is, health insurance carriers will pass the charge onto small employers in Connecticut that cannot afford to self-insure. 

So the SIM assessment will drive up costs only for employers who offer their employees health insurance–even though SIM is designed to benefit everyone in Connecticut. 

What’s more, the state has already received $2.8 million from the federal government to begin planning for SIM and is in the process of applying for $50 million more from the feds. 

One more point: The SIM assessment is very different from other health industry levies, such as vaccinations, because this new charge provides no specific healthcare outcome for employers. In fact, many employers are already working on their own initiatives to improve quality and reduce cost. 

Connecticut employers simply cannot face another hit to their healthcare budget–and this assessment will not only impact costs this year but for years to come.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Jennifer Herz at 860.244.1921 | jennifer.herz@cbia.com | @CBIAjherz