Posted on 04/04/2014 3:18:53 PM PDT by Daffynition
By now, we all know that the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable. Health care and insurance premiums have skyrocketed and we are all facing $2,000-$4,000 in tax increases. The number of uninsured Americans is also climbing while the number of doctors practicing medicine is declining.
But did you know that the Affordable Car Act – aka Obamacare – will also cost you more when you take your pets to the vet?
According to the Heritage Foundation, a newly released IRS rule states that a 2.3% device tax will be levied on most medical devices before they leave the manufacturer. The rule states: [snip]
I tell “fido” that we’re going to the Dogtor.
If it's really cold, I only let them go in for a few seconds at a spot (swiftly running water that stays open all year) very close to the warmth of the car for the short ride home.
“They have now MANDATED that your pet see the vet for an annual exam.”
I believe we have something like that. I had a long sheet from the vet telling me the requirements but I’ve lost it. The exam jumped by 50% per year. The teeth cleaning went from $50 to $350 and they wouldn’t do it without all the shots and tests which ran a few hundred more. That’s why she’s gone commando. I keep her in at night now for added safety. Boy does that annoy her.
vets and feed stores rock
Wow, bet that will do wonders for the shelter population in Oregon!
Idiotic!!!
Actually, they start by teaching us human anatomy because it is easier to relate, and then highlight the differences -— no collar bone in a dog, no gall bladder in a horse, an extra bone in a cow’s heart, etc.
My brother is my veterinarian and he would never write a prescription for me.
The ACA/0bamaCare could change that in the near future.
You had better keep on good terms with your vet ... especially when you find out he/she is the only “Doctor” that will take your “CommieCare” insurance (Medicaid/Medicare/Tricare clients take special notice”.
Many of our drugs have skyrocketed in price. We are not talking a moderate increase, we are talking astronomical. One antibiotic that cost $.04/pill is costing us now $6 to $10.00/pill. Many of our drugs have been just dropped due to production costs. Our practice insurance is the same as physicians for liability and malpractice and is going up logarithmically. Much of our equipment is same as the human side and its going up accordingly. To stay profitable we have to increase our prices and charge accordingly for those things that we can offer our patients. I’ve been in veterinary medicine since 1974 and its economically as bad as I’ve ever seen.
I have often wished for my vet to become my pcp. They are so darn smart, treating patients that can’t tell them what is wrong.
Sadly, I’ve never been able to find one, lol.
That being said, veterinary costs are sky rocketing!!!
I don’t doubt what you say at all regarding the escalation in operating costs and increase in supplies.
Do you think that is caused, in part, by people willing to spend more on their pets? I, myself, probably spent less on veterinary care in “the old days”. I pretty well self-doctored them and only took them to the vet for emergencies and annual shots. Heck...back then I could get the vaccines at the feed store and do that myself!
I got more than one dog who’s on medicine, I found this out last year.
Raise my taxes, but mess with my Dog, it might get ugly.
Oh great-just what everyone needs-higher vet bills on top of everything else.
Do you think that is caused, in part, by people willing to spend more on their pets?
I share the same perceptions. I realize the rising price of medicines, but the labor costs have skyrocketed as well. I think something changed when dogs changed from farm animals to family members. In the old days, if an animal got sick, you put it down and got another. It is harder to put down something you love, and the vets know it.
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