Federal health care reform would be a benefit to small businesses, US. Rep. Rush Holt (D-West Windsor) said during a telephone conference Wednesday morning.

The meeting introduced a New Jersey Policy Perspective report analyzing proposals put forward by President Barack Obama and both houses of Congress.

“Compared to the current situation, things will be better for small businesses in America,” Holt said, in response to a question by NJBIZ. “Right now, more small businesses are dropping their health care coverage because they can’t get the lower group rate premiums available to large companies. These proposals would make it more affordable.”

The report was written by Ray Castro, senior policy analyst at NJPP, a Trenton-based think tank. It identifies costs and benefits to Garden State families and businesses.

The state is likely to get up to $29 billion in federal funds during the next decade under the proposals being considered in Washington. To pay for the bill’s costs, the House bill would mainly rely on a “millionaire’s tax” that would affect fewer than 2 percent of New Jersey residents, according to NJPP.

The Senate bill includes an excise tax on higher cost insurance policies that would primarily affect high-income families, but “also would affect the health plans of many middle-income families in New Jersey,” according to the report. It would also levy new fees on pharmaceutical firms and insurance companies.

The House and the Senate bills each provide tax credits to offset premium costs for employers with fewer than 25 employees, according to the report, which said about 215,000 New Jersey businesses each have up to 25 employees and would likely be eligible for the credits.

Obama’s proposal would prohibit “excessive and unjustified increases in insurance premiums,” according to the report, which added that New Jersey would benefit since it “already has some of the highest insurance premiums in the nation.” The White House proposal also aims to soften the excise tax on higher-cost insurance plans by raising the increasing threshold amount of insurance to $27,500, from $23,000, and delaying implementation from 2013 to 2018 for all of these plans, instead of restricting the delay to unions.

“I’m committed to seeing health care reform through,” Holt said. “Walking away from it is not an option.”

E-mail Martin C. Daks at mdaks@njbiz.com