(Washington, D.C.) – On Sunday, the House passed legislation to avoid a government shutdown by finding common ground with the Senate. The House measure is a reasonable and responsible continuing resolution that delays ObamaCare for a year, repeals the medical device tax, and ensures our troops gets paid if the President and Senate Democrats force a government shutdown.
Rep. Bucshon released the following statement regarding the responsible plan passed by the House today:
“House Republicans believe this approach can and should find common ground with Senate Democrats and the White House,â€Â said Bucshon. “Hoosiers have made it clear: they don’t want a government shutdown and they don’t want ObamaCare. This is a reasonable and fair solution. We grant families the same relief from the harmful effects of ObamaCare that the President gave big businesses, repeal the medical device tax, and ensure our troops gets paid if the President and Senate Democrats force a government shutdown. Now it is up to the Senate to do their work on behalf of the American people.â€
THE MEDICAL DEVICE TAX:
The medical device tax is a 2.3% excise tax on the medical device industry that was included in ObamaCare to help pay for the law. To date, the medical device tax has cost over 10,000 jobs that we know of and countless smaller, privately held companies have cut jobs and investments in research and development to deal with this onerous policy.Â
Indiana is home to over 300 medical device companies, that support over 20,000 Hoosier jobs directly and 28,000 secondary jobs.
“This tax stifles innovation and growth in one of our nation’s most advancing sectors and has already caused companies here in Indiana, like Cook Medical Group, to put plans to expand their operation and create new jobs on hold,â€Â said Bucshon. “Repeal has widespread, bipartisan support. There is no reason the Senate should not approve this measure.â€
Boston Scientific Corporation in Spencer, Indiana announced plans to cut 2,400 positions while Cook Medical Inc. in Bloomington, Indianaput plans on hold to open five new plants here in the United States in the next five years.
The medical device industry was quick to support the House plan saying it will save jobs and protect critical medical innovation.
“Repeal of the medical device tax is critical for Indiana’s economy and to patients who benefit from advances in medical technology,â€Â said Michael Mahoney, President and CEO at Boston Scientific Corporation. “On behalf of the 800 Boston Scientific employees in Spencer, IN we thank Congressman Larry Bucshon for his leadership in helping to repeal the medical device excise tax.”
“The hundreds of medical device companies of Indiana are grateful for the inclusion of the medical device tax (MDT) repeal in the Continuing Resolution. Indiana is an international leader in medical device manufacturing, and the repeal of the medical device tax especially will allow the newer and smaller companies to continue the production of innovative life-saving and life-enhancing products,â€stated Peggy Welch, the Indiana Medical Device Manufacturers Council Executive Director. “The repeal will also help Indiana to retain and create quality, good-wage middle-class jobs. The MDT repeal is a multi-layer win, and we are hopeful that this provision will continue its ride on the CR until the very end.â€Â
Repealing the medical device tax has received broad, bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. In fact, the Democrat-controlled Senate approved a bill to repeal the tax, in the non-binding budget resolution, 79-20 in March. Just last year, 37 House Democrats joined their Republican colleagues repeal the tax in a bill (H.R. 436) that passed 270-146. (ABC News; 9/28/13) Bucshon was an original cosponsor of H.R. 436 and is an original cosponsor of H.R. 523 similar version introduced in February.
In a press conference earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) rightfully referred to this 2.3% excise tax on the medical device industry as a, “stupid tax.†Watch the video here - http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/harry-reid-calls-obamacare-medical-device-tax-stupid_757185.html.
Here is a list of companies, government agencies that will because of ACA do one or more of the following;
1. Cut part time hours to less than 30 per week with some as low as 25 hours/week.
2. Not hire additional people.
3. Of new hires their hours will be limited.
4. In some cases, out source jobs to avoid providing health benefits.
Those examples are from http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/092513-669013-obamacare-employer-mandate-a-list-of-cuts-to-work-hours-jobs.htm?fromcampaign=1
You will note those are the public stated reasons by the listed companies and government agencies. This is not a comprehensive list of companies that are reducing hours to less than part time, laying off people or using other mechanisms to minimize the disastrous effects ACA will have on businesses, the budgets of government agencies and the individual.
As I said this list is not comprehensive as it does not include (over sight perhaps or newness of the announcement) companies like UPS.
People mistakenly think this is limited to the private sector, such people are patently wrong. Else why would the Tennessee School system be reducing some staff to less than 30 hours?
The ACA cannot be fixed by this bill through targeted repealing of various business sectors like medical devices. When the lead author of the ACA deemed it nothing short of a train wreck no amount of bills will correct the huge issues in the thousands of pages that still at this time no one fully comprehends.
While I support the band-Ade attempt at targeted repeals it does not and cannot address the larger issues of the ACA.
Senator Cruz and others are right; it needs a total repeal.
Hold the employers responsible for their actions. If they cut staff and hours it’s their own choice. When their good employees leave to the competitor their business will suffer. When the employer no longer attracts a good workforce then who is to blame? Stop diverting blame.
Holding the employers responsible is the wrong answer. It is not their choice to cut employees hours unless you consider bankruptcy a viable option for a business; if so then there will be a lot of bankrupt businesses.
While your shortsighted answer ignores that a business must operate within a budget to *stay* in business, you have missed one key aspect; many government agencies and departments are responding in the same fashion.
So you force businesses towards eventual bankruptcy (under your plan) and then who will pay the taxes to increase the budgets of the public sector?
You answer is the clueless type; force businesses to operate in the negative which pushes them towards bankruptcy. When that happens, who is going to pay the ACA tax when unemployment rises? The more people unemployed the smaller the tax base the further in debt this country is pushed to cover the “health bills”.
This so called plan is a complete sham. First of all, the medical device tax is an integral part of the Affordable Care Act. It helps fund the Act. Recinding the tax is just one more way the House Republicans are undoing the Act.
Secondly, the House Republicans wish to delay the initiation of Obamacare for one year solely to push its initiation past the next election cycle in hopes that Republicans comprise a majority in the Senate in 2015. Then by controlling both the House and the Senate, they will kill the healthcare program altogether.
What is their alternative to Obamacare? After voting 43 times to kill Obamacare, what alternate plan for universal healthcare to cover all Americans have the House Republicans offered? Nothing!
Obamacare in fact largely is a healthcare plan built on ideas promoted by various Republicans and Republican dominated think tanks since Ronald Reagan. Obama in his foolish attempts to compromise his way into History, sold out his liberal voter base. He reneged on his campaign promises to establish single payer healthcare.
Single payer healthcare based on the Medicare model would have avoided all the confusion. Working Americans simply would’ve paid for their healthcare coverage via a withholding tax, and underemployed or unemployed workers would have their healthcare subsidized on a sliding scale. People wishing Cadillac healthcare could buy supplemental policies just like retired people do on Medicare.
Obamacare needs to be modified to address its various shortcomings, but not completely done away with. We need to move forward, not backward.
As it is now, House Republicans are simply reacting to the 30% or so of Tea Party radicalized voters in gerrymandered districts, who by threatening to primary moderate Republican Congressmen, presently control everything the Republican House does. Or in fact, everything the do-nothing Republican House doesn’t do.
Next stop, after a silly symbolic and futile one or two day government shutdown will be the debt ceiling crisis in mid October when the Tea Party radicalized Republican House will gamble a Wall Street collapse, the United States’ credit rating, and all our middle class investments in real estate and retirement accounts.
You are absolutely on-point with your comments. Dr. Larry just loves to insult the intelligence of his constituency.
The debt-ceiling is the most important piece of this whole mess, and I think the House Republicans are willfully trying to confuse people on the two issues.
Its good there are at least someone in congress willing to do something to mitigate the damage being and will be done by ACA. But lets put all that aside for the moment.
Let’s consider those who have been historically supportive of Democrats and their socialist goals. A big supporter has been the Unions. Even they are afraid of the ACA because they finally realized just how damaging it will be. Need I cite the letter written by James P. Hoffa calling the ACA a destroyer of non-profit health plans (his words)?
But even more to the point. Obama, Palosi and others promised up and down under ACA people will be allowed to KEEP their existing health plans. That’s not happening. So on that point Obama and the rest lied to the American people.
Now let me ask you who is going to pay that 2.3% medical device tax? It will be passed on to those purchasing their products which will be their non-consumer customers such as hospitals, doctors and the like. So now it will cost those entities more to provide the same services or to upgrade those services.
There is an even nastier side to the medical device tax. It is based *not* on profits, its based on sales. In case your not able to cogitate the egregiousness of that problem, Forbes has a very good explanation;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2013/07/24/u-s-medical-device-industry-in-critical-condition/
If your still not able to understand then I understand your blind faith to this law.
What Romney did in Massachusetts in my view is just as unconstitutional as the ACA so I do not consider it to be a valid reference. In the past laws have been deemed unconstitutional and rescinded and the same should happen to the ACA.
Its funny though. People complain all the time how $SOME_GOVERNMENT_AGENCY/DEPARTMENT has screwed up this or that, be it our education system, the tax code, etc, etc.
Yet they are able to not just ignore those complaints about bit government but fully embrace the insane notion that somehow, just somehow big government will get managing our health care right. Well I for one do not want the government Republican or Democrat practicing medicine on me.
good job dr……..to stop barrys destruction is why the people voted you and the rest of the conservatives into the house……….
I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers.
J.D. Rockefeller.
It is quite clear to thinking people that Rockys’ dream has come true.
That may very well be “ole Rockefeller” ,all though having an career job wasn’t all that bad either however.
“America can use current needs and projections to create enterprise, Look too what science finds must happen,build with that in mind,regulation becomes enterprise”.
V-is-to-R.
Innovating,Creating jobs,Actually building an sustainable future. Easy.
Raptor.
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