Even Pets Aren’t Safe from ObamaCare’s Heart Attack Tax

June 8, 2012

House Democrats are Still Defending an ObamaCare Tax that Would Target Life-Saving Medical Technologies for People and Their Pets

Apparently the heart attack tax created under ObamaCare doesn’t just tax pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, and other medical devices—it could also tax pets on their trip to the vet.
The absurdity of taxing pets’ medical treatments perfectly highlights the excesses of ObamaCare. Sadly, this tax is already killing jobs and could have a drastically negative impact on medical innovation.
The heart attack tax’s damaging effects haven’t stopped Democrats from once again doubling down to defend ObamaCare.

Apparently the heart attack tax created under ObamaCare doesn’t just tax pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators, and other medical devices—it could also tax pets on their trip to the vet:

A TAX ON PETS: IRS SAYS MEDICAL DEVICES USED ON BOTH ANIMALS AND HUMANS WILL BE TAXED: “The commentator suggested that if the manufacturer can demonstrate that a device is sold for use in veterinary medicine, the excise tax should not be imposed on that sale. The proposed regulations do not adopt this suggestion because the statutory language does not limit the definition of ‘taxable medical device’ to devices intended exclusively for humans. Therefore, a device that is intended for humans but that is also intended for use or used in veterinary medicine is a ‘taxable medical device’ if it is listed as a device with the FDA pursuant to FDA requirements, and does not fall within an exemption under section 4191(b)(2), such as the retail exemption.” (Steven T. Miller, “Taxable Medical Devices,”Internal Revenue Service, 2/3/2012)

OBAMACARE’S HEART ATTACK TAX WOULD TAX “EVERYTHING FROM CARDIAC DEFIBRILLATORS TO ARTIFICIAL JOINTS TO MRI SCANNERS”:“’Taxmageddon’ isn’t only about the half-trillion-dollar blow to the economy that arrives in 2013 on the end of the Bush-Obama tax rates. Several of the Affordable Care Act’s worst tax increases kick in too, such as the new excise tax on medical devices. The 2.3% levy applies to the sale of everything from cardiac defibrillators to artificial joints to MRI scanners.” (Editorial, “Improvised Explosive Device Tax,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/2012)

THE TAX COULD HIT PACEMAKERS, STENTS, ELASTIC BANDAGES, ARTIFICIAL HIPS AND KNEES, ETC.: (Susan Kelly, “Medical Device Tax May Spur Price Hikes, Cost Cuts,” Reuters, 4/18/2012)

The absurdity of taxing pets’ medical treatments perfectly highlights the excesses of ObamaCare. Sadly, this tax is already killing jobs and could have a drastically negative impact on medical innovation:

MEDICAL DEVICE TAX IS ALREADY DESTROYING JOBS, AND COULD DESTROY EVEN MORE:

NEW STUDY: AT LEAST 14,500 JOBS OR AS MANY AS 47,000 JOBS COULD BE DESTROYED BY OBAMACARE’S HEART ATTACK TAX: (Michael Ramlet, Robert Book and Han Zhong, “The Economic Impact of the Medical Device Tax,” American Action Forum, 6/4/2012)

13,303 SMALL- TO MEDIUM-SIZE MEDICAL DEVICE FIRMS IN U.S., OR 91% OF ALL MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANIES COULD BE AFFECTED: (Michael Ramlet, Robert Book and Han Zhong, “The Economic Impact of the Medical Device Tax,” American Action Forum, 6/4/2012)

HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL: 43,000 MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY WORKERS COULD BE LAID OFF BY TAX HIKE: “Under reasonable assumptions, the tax could result in job losses in excess of 43,000 and employment compensation losses in excess of $3.5 billion.” (“Employment Effects of the New Excise Tax on the Medical Device Industry,” Healthcare Leadership Council, September 2011)

MEDICAL INDUSTRY STUDY PREDICTS 39,000 JOBS LOST: “A $3 billion hit on the medical device industry — roughly the effect of the healthcare reform law’s industry tax — would cost nearly 39,000 jobs and more than $8 billion in economic output, according to a new report released Monday by the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed).” (Julian Pecquet, “Medical Device Makers Decry Cost of Tax,” The Hill, 3/26/2012)

SEVERAL MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANIES ARE ALREADY OUTSOURCING JOBS AND LAYING OFF WORKERS: “Cook Medical is no longer planning to open a U.S. factory a year. Boston Scientific, planning for a more than $100 million charge against earnings in 2013, recently built a $35 million research and development facility in Ireland and is building a $150 million factory in China. (Capital goes where it is welcome and stays where it is well-treated.) Stryker Corp., based in Michigan, blames the tax for 1,000 layoffs. Zimmer, based in Indiana, is laying off 450 and taking a $50 million charge against earnings. Medtronic expects an annual charge against earnings of $175 million.”(George Will, “Taxing Jobs Out of Existence,” The Washington Post, 5/9/2012)

SOME MEDICAL DEVICE MAKERS “HAVE ALREADY ANNOUNCED LAYOFFS AHEAD OF THE TAX”: (Susan Kelly, “Medical Device Tax May Spur Price Hikes, Cost Cuts,” Reuters, 4/18/2012)

A HIT TO LIFE-SAVING MEDICAL INNOVATION:

TAX IMPACT IS DOUBLE THE SIZE OF TOTAL ANNUAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BUDGET IN MEDICAL DEVICES: “The 2.3 percent tax will be a $20 billion blow to an industry that employs more than 400,000, and $20 billion is almost double the industry’s annual investment in research and development.” (George Will, “Taxing Jobs Out of Existence,” The Washington Post, 5/9/2012)

“OBAMACARE’S MEDICAL DEVICE TAX KILLS PATIENTS, NOT JUST JOBS”:(John R. Graham, “ObamaCare’s Medical-Device Tax Kills Patients, Not Just Jobs,” Forbes, 6/6/2012)

HEART ATTACK TAX WILL REDUCE U.S. LIFE EXPECTANCY BY HURTING INNOVATION OF LIFE-EXTENDING MEDICAL DEVICES: “Based upon the peer-reviewed literature on the relationship between investment in medical technology and improvements in life expectancies, this investment decline can be predicted to yield an annual decline of about 1 million expected lifeyears for the U.S. population, concentrated upon particular population subgroup.” (Benjamin Zycher, “ObamaCare’s Tax on Medical Devices: Cuts R&D By $2 Billion a Year,” Pacific Research Institute, May 2012)

TAX WILL MEAN “FEWER PAIN-REDUCING AND LIFE-EXTENDING INVENTIONS”: “So the 2.3 percent tax, unless repealed, will mean not only fewer jobs but also fewer pain-reducing and life-extending inventions — stents, implantable defibrillators, etc. — which have reduced health-care costs.” (George Will, “Taxing Jobs Out of Existence,” The Washington Post, 5/9/2012)

MEDICAL INDUSTRY: “TAX WILL STIFLE INNOVATION AND SEND JOBS OVERSEAS”: (Susan Kelly, “Medical Device Tax May Spur Price Hikes, Cost Cuts,” Reuters, 4/18/2012)

“DEVICE MAKERS WILL PASS ON THE TAX” TO CONSUMERS; RESULT: “LESS INNOVATION, FEWER JOBS, HIGHER HEALTH CARE COSTS”: “To the extent they can, device makers will pass this tax on to the hospitals and provider purchasing groups that buy their products, which will ultimately show up in insurance premiums. Or they’ll offset the costs with layoffs or by slashing research and development. Less innovation, fewer jobs, higher health costs—the usual ObamaCare trifecta.” (Editorial, “Improvised Explosive Device Tax,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/28/2012)

The heart attack tax’s damaging effects haven’t stopped Democrats from once again doubling down to defend ObamaCare:

WHITE HOUSE THREATENS TO VETO MEDICAL DEVICE TAX REPEAL: “White House officials threatened a veto Wednesday of a Republican bill that would repeal a tax on the makers of many medical devices sold in the U.S., in the latest partisan clash over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.”(Alan Fram, “White House Veto Threat on Medical Device Tax,” Associated Press, 6/6/2012)

77% OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING THE HEART ATTACK TAX: (Roll Call 361, Clerk of the U.S. House, 6/7/2012)

DEMS HAVE REPEATEDLY PROVED THEY WON’T REPEAL OR EVEN FIX OBAMACARE:

98% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE: (Roll Call 14, Clerk of the U.S. House, 1/19/2011)

95% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE SLUSH FUNDS: (Roll Call 264, Clerk of the U.S. House, 4/13/2011)

95% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING FUNDS FOR OBAMACARE STATE EXCHANGES: (Roll Call 285, Clerk of the U.S. House, 5/3/2011)

97% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING FUNDS FOR OBAMACARE HEALTH CENTERS: (Roll Call 290, Clerk of the U.S. House, 5/4/2011)

83% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST REPEALING FISCALLY DISASTROUS “CLASS” PROGRAM: (Roll Call 18, Clerk of the U.S. House, 2/1/2012)

90% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING IPAB: (Roll Call 126, Clerk of the U.S. House, 3/22/2012)

87% OF HOUSE DEMS VOTED AGAINST REPEALING OBAMACARE SLUSH FUNDS TO PREVENT STUDENT INTEREST RATE HIKES: (Roll Call 195, Clerk of the U.S. House, 4/27/2012)