Congressman Chuck Fleischmann voted for H.R. 436, the Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012. H.R. 436 repeals the Medical Device Tax, a 2.3% tax on medical devices that raised $29 billion to fund Obamacare. The bill is fully offset and will actually reduce the deficit by $6.7 billion, officials said.
“In the past 50 years, new medical devices have led to remarkable treatments and patient outcomes that our parents could scarcely imagine. With recent advances in the medical device field, the last thing we need is a punishing tax which ships jobs overseas and makes medical devices more expensive for sick children. 98% of medical device companies employ fewer than 500 employees, so this is truly a tax on our small businesses,” Rep. Fleischmann said.
“Since the tax affects sales, not profits, this tax will be especially damaging to startup companies and companies that invest heavily in R&D. It is heartening to see many Democrats recognized the danger of this tax and joined House Republicans in support of repeal. I look forward to continuing the fight to end Obamacare in its entirety.”
A medical device industry study estimated that the tax would result in the loss of up to 43,000 jobs.