Posted on 02/22/2014 10:25:34 AM PST by SeekAndFind
But it's "only" 2.3%! How can such a tiny tax have such a large negative impact?
That's the thinking of the excise tax supporters who think that the medical device industry can "easily afford" the tax (New York Times) and besides, they deserve it because they're "anti-competitive":
A new survey says Obamacare's tax on medical device manufacturers has cost the industry about 33,000 jobs.
In a report this week, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) said companies cut about 14,000 workers and decided not to hire about 19,000 workers because of the
The report also said the 2.3 percent excise tax also forced three-quarters of respondents to defer or cancel capital projects, reduce investment in start-ups or defer raises for their employees.
The medical device tax is one of several taxes built into the Affordable Care Act to help pay for the reforms. But it has been attacked by both sides of the political aisle as a job-killer that harms a growing business sector.
Democrats from states like Minnesota and Indiana have been particularly vocal about their opposition, due to the large number of manufacturers in their states, but Congress has not found roughly $30 billion dollars needed to repeal the tax over the next 10 years.
"During a time when there is bipartisan support for growing high-technology manufacturing jobs, these results should serve as a wake-up call," AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl said. "As a result of the medical device tax, we have seen an unprecedented impact on jobs and key investments in R&D. The findings of the report underscore the need to repeal this tax."
Critics of the repeal crowd say the outcry is much ado about nothing.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Another success story of the unAffordable nonCare taxAct.
I love how the SCM distorts everything....the democrats stuffed this crap act down our throats and now the SCM sees fit to list only the democrats as opposed to the tax on medical devices.....
If it’s “only 2.3%” and no big deal then how about we cut the federal government budget 2.3 percent? It’s no big deal.
Let’s start with the president and all civilian federal employees, I mean shouldn’t they share in the glorious economy just like the rest of America?
And how many lives?
Democrats are onto a brilliant idea there - they should just tax the Federal government to pay for everything in the world they can possibly imagine. After all, the Feds have all the money they can print. I can't believe they haven't thought of it before.
In fairness, I think I stole the above idea from another FReeper, but I can't remember his name, so I'm taking credit.
The 2.3% tax isn’t on profits, it’s on revenue. A company operating on a normal margin takes a huge hit. We knew it was going to hit our suppliers hard and it has. There was a move to repeal it that went nowhere and now it’s really doing some damage. It’s a major reason GE moved it’s entire imaging manufacturing operation to China.
Thanks SeekAndFind.
I find it quite infuriating that not until YOUR post was the cost in HUMAN LIVES mentioned as a cost of the Medical Device Excise tax.
I curse the Democrats who refuse to admit that the cheap and easy medical problems have been virtually taken care of.
Modern MEDICAL DEVICES are pushing the frontiers of medicine beyond the capabilities of most people to even imagine.
Go ahead...cause them to shut down, then prepare to mourn the dead.
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