Tax stabilization will help cut the cost of a long-term safety net

TAX STABILIZATION

There are many issues currently being debated in Washington, D.C., and those issues, especially the details, can be complicated for families to understand.

Our organizations represent thousands of Granite Staters, and we know that caring and providing for a family member with a disability is a front-and-center issue every day for many families. And making sure a loved one with a disability is properly cared for after guardians can no longer fulfill that role is equally important.

This is personal, sensitive and, very often, frightening for families to consider.

Many families have relied on life insurance as the long-term safety net for a loved one with a disability. We fear that this option may become unaffordable for far too many low- and middle-income families.

That is because life insurance may get more costly without help from Congress. Let us explain.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, but did not treat all industries equally. Almost $25 billion in tax hikes on life insurers was used to help offset the legislation’s cost.

Congress is currently considering a raise in corporate taxes that would end up disproportionately impacting life insurance companies. A simple fix — tax stabilization — would help make sure that any corporate tax rate rise would be shared equally and fairly among businesses. Without tax stabilization for life insurance companies, the special needs community could be unintentionally and negatively harmed by the corporate rate increase, as it only stands to reason that the cost of life insurance would likely increase.

The special needs community is, for the most part, not composed of very wealthy people. Our community is price-sensitive, so even small increases in life insurance costs could have big impacts, making it unaffordable to purchase.

We sincerely hope our congressional delegation will support tax stabilization, so families with special needs in New Hampshire can affordably access financial security for the people who need it most.

Deborah Ritcey is CEO of Granite State Independent Living. Mary Conroy is president and CEO of Special Olympics New Hampshire. Jonathan Routhier is executive director of Community Support Network Inc., and Lisa Beaudoin is executive director of ABLE-NH.