Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Health Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee backs $600-per-employee small-employer health credit with $5 million cap
Summary
HB341 would create a per-employee tax credit to help very small employers purchase individual coverage; sponsors said the annual cap was reduced from $25 million to $5 million and eligibility tightened to employers of 10 or fewer.
The committee advanced HB341, a bill that would provide a tax credit to small employers to help employees obtain individual health coverage. Representative Newton, the sponsor, described the substitute as a $600-per-year tax credit that phases down over five years and now carries a flat $5 million annual cap.
Newton said the bill was revised after earlier hearings to narrow eligibility to employers with 10 or fewer employees (down from 50) and to reduce the overall program cap from an earlier $25 million proposal to a $5 million cap. "This is a group of individuals that are kinda left out of our Medicaid coverage under a hundred percent on pathways," Newton said, adding the credit targets employers who cannot provide full health benefits.
Committee members asked procedural and policy questions. The subcommittee reported the bill favorably and, in full committee, members adopted a technical amendment (Camp amendment adding a CFR citation) and passed the measure by voice vote.
The transcript records sponsor comments about the program's intent and the substitute's fiscal cap, but does not include the full statutory text or implementation schedule; fiscal and administrative details were said to be in the bill substitute and fiscal note.
