Medical Devices Tax in the ACA and McTurtle

[SHRED]

No wonder McTurtle keeps flapping his jowls about eliminating it.

Too bad our press is dead in this country so no one hears about this.

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=H4100&cycle=2014&recipdetail=S&mem=Y&sortorder=U

[yeoman6987]

1. Very interesting

But I thought that was one part of ACA that Republicans want voted on to stop taxing on medical devices? I am so confused. Maybe the Republicans are just saying that to save face. But most Americans are not concerned about a tax on medical devices. Ok I repeat. I am confused!

[SHRED]

2. Yes he wants this tax eliminated

[frazzled]

3. Al Franken and Elizabeth Warren have vocally called for its repeal as well

Because their states have the big medical manufacturers. (The only reason E Warren isn't on that list is that she wasn't running in 2014.)

So I guess we'd have to extend this analysis to quite a few Democrats as well.

[yeoman6987]

4. Are you for or against the tax

I guess my feeling is that if Republicans and a few Democratic Senators don't want this then at least it seems like one of the minor changes to ACA that I can live with. However any change to ACA (and there will be some) needs to be thought about completely and see the long term effects both good and bad. ACA is here to stay, but Tweaks are going to happen most likely in 2015.

[frazzled]

5. I am for retaining the tax (i.e. not repealing it)

The 2.3% excise tax is hardly onerous for these profit-making companies, and it won't cause manufacture of devices to transfer overseas, because the tax is levied on foreign as well as domestic products.

But the main reason to retain it is because without it we will either have to raise the funds to cover the ACA somewhere else (fat chance) or cut aspects of programs or services it provides. And guess what those will be: programs that affect the poor, like the expansion of Medicaid or generous rebates on premiums. Or restrictions on insurance companies to provide health care such as free mammograms or colonoscopies.

So yes, I am FOR the tax.

ON EDIT: Here is a very good overview of the excise tax, from the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3684

Please note:

Medical devices encompass an extremely wide range of products, such as surgical gloves, dental instruments, coronary stents, artificial knees and hips, defibrillators, cardiac pacemakers, irradiation equipment, and advanced imaging technology. The U.S. medical device industry has estimated total sales of $106 billion to $116 billion a year.[8] A few large firms account for the lion’s share of this revenue. For example, Johnson and Johnson’s worldwide sales of medical devices and diagnostics totaled $27 billion in 2012; the firm had total sales (on both medical devices and other products) of $67 billion, on which it earned profits of nearly $11 billion.[9] Medtronic had $16 billion in sales and profits of nearly $4 billion in its 2012 fiscal year.[10] One trade group has estimated that the ten largest medical device makers will account for 86 percent of the sales of covered medical devices and hence pay 86 percent of the receipts from the excise tax.