The Medical Device Tax in Obamacare

One of the taxes contained in the more than 2,000 pages of the new health care law is a 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of medical devices.  This tax, intended to help fund the new law, goes into effect in 2013, but its consequences are already starting to reveal themselves. 

Because of this looming tax, Cook Medical Inc., a Bloomington, Indiana based developer of medical devices, has decided to scrap its plans to open five new manufacturing plants.  The plants were to have opened around the Midwest, one each year for the next five years, and would have created around 300 jobs each.

So this tax that was intended to help fund Obamacare will cost Americans 1,500 new jobs, just within this one company.  And what about medical devices already being manufactured by Cook Medical and other medical device companies?  Who will cover the cost of this tax?  A pretty good guess is that the cost will be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher health care costs.

You may not like politics.  You may not like any of the candidates running for office.  You may feel that the two political parties are the same, so it doesn’t really matter.  Maybe you like to vote based on the candidate, not on the party.

If any of that sounds like you, you’re not alone.  Many people feel the same way.  However, the fact is that the only way Obamacare will be repealed is for Mitt Romney to be elected President and for Republicans to control both the House and the Senate.  If this does not happen, Obamacare will stand.  The medical device tax and other hidden, costly, job-killing taxes will stand.  

If this all sounds to you like a good idea, then you don’t need to do anything.  The bill is already law.  If, however, you feel that a bill of well over 2,000 pages that will drive up the cost of healthcare while destroying American jobs was not such a great idea, then you need to get involved at whatever level you feel comfortable. 

That might be just to make sure you are registered and that you vote for Mitt Romney and for Republican candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives.  It might mean that you talk to others and explain to them what’s at stake.  It might mean that when the time comes, you set out yard signs or even volunteer to make telephone calls.  Whatever you’re comfortable doing… do it.  

Don't make the mistake of thinking that party doesn't matter.  Even if you've been a lifelong Democrat, please understand that in this situation, Republicans must be elected to the House, the Senate, and the White House.  That is the only way Obamacare will be repealed.