Obama Taxes Pacemakers, Heart Valves Monday, October 26, 2009 9:55 AM By: *** Morris & Eileen McGann Article Font Size The more fiscal details of the healthcare bills emerge, the more appalling they seem. The Senate Finance Committee bill includes a broad provision taxing all manner of medical devices. This tax includes such frivolous luxuries as pacemakers, stents, artificial heart valves, defibrillators, automated wheelchairs, mechanized artificial limbs, replacement hips and knees, surgical gurneys, laparoscopic equipment, and the like. President Obama is planning to reduce the cost of medical care by taxing it! The most recent Gallup Poll reflected that 49 percent of respondents said they believed that the Obamacare plan will increase their healthcare costs. Only about 20 percent said it would lower them. It is taxes like these that substantiate this kind of concern. The origins of this new medical device tax are troubling as well. The medical device industry had its day at the White House as did the insurance industry, the drug makers, the nurses, and the doctors. In turn, each group heard the White House request that they come up with voluntary cuts in their healthcare costs and support Obama's proposed changes in return for assurances that Congress would not impose deeper cuts (or, in the case of the doctors, that it would actually rescind cuts already scheduled under current statutes). But, unlike all these other groups, the medical device industry refused the deal. This posture enraged the tyrants in the White House who vowed to punish the industry with cuts imposed by Congress. The result was a decision by the revenue-hungry Senate Finance Committee to extract billions in funds from the industry. The legislation does not work like a sales or excise tax. Rather it follows the model of the punitive tobacco settlement imposed on cigarette companies in the 90s. It assesses an industry-wide payment which firms must make in proportion to their market share. It bars them from passing along the cost of the assessment by charging more for certain basic products, but allows them to raise the price of others to raise the funds for the fee. So, the result will be that virtually every piece of advanced surgical equipment will be subject to a price increase to meet the levy from Washington. No matter that these devices often make the difference between life and death and that, in effect, taxing them raises the cost of vital treatments. The vengeful White House will have its pound of flesh from the medical device industry for daring to be independent and to refuse to knuckle down to Administration pressure. This tax, imposed in a spirit of haughty arrogance, falls on totally inappropriate objects. Valves, prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, hearing aids, and such are essential therapies that make life longer, better, and less painful. To tax them makes no sense — except in the world of sharp elbows and interest-group politics that grips this take-no-prisoners and show-no-mercy White House. © 2009 *** Morris & Eileen McGann

  Is this another made-up scare tactic like the others that have been proven to be false and debunked or is this one for real ?

 Where did the information come from ?

why don't you try reading it, it says where it came from...DUH

Morris & Eileen McGann?  Great unbiased source Iceman.  What's wrong, couldn't find anything more slanted than that on Prison Planet or another nut-case site?  Try FOX, they are Fair and Balanced.  Uh, yeah.

By the way, what is so wrong about taxing the highly profitable businesses that thrive in the healthcare industry in order to help pay for healthcare?  Are you also opposed to taxing the insurance industry and their multi-billion dollar profits?

like it says , ENJOY ALL YOUR NEW TAXES!!!...maybe the left can pick some more candidates to run as republicans too, nobody will ever spot the fakes

  LOL,  Iceman I was asking for sources for verification not who wrote the article.

Nevermind I checked it out myself,  it is not settled yet whether there will taxes on class 111 medical devices, but yes it is being considered as a way to help finance the reform.

Currently the profit margin on these more expensive items is quite large and Congress has asked the medical device board of directors to cut costs enough to allow the tax without it raising costs, and supposedly the increase in sales due to the expansion in insurance coverage would offset the cut in profits to allow for the tax without it raising costs in order to get coverage to more people.

 The medical device board of directors oppose this and will not agree to cutting profits, as they don't think the increase in coverage would be enough to offset the cuts and tax and they will loose profits.

 

It comes back to the same story over and over again,  financing increased coverage for the have nots whose labor has or does make the profits for the haves = versus profit for the haves.

With the lower profit margin companies caught in the middle feeling the pain.

 

spoken like a true communist, attack the profit margin, show your colours, wave that little red book with pride, comrade. what comes around.....you are making too much profit in your business, you may be next for the profit police!!

You silly niceman.  Im not afraid to show my colors.  I like red.  It is pretty.  I think you don't like red because there was not enough of it on last years electoral map.  I would think you want more red and not less.

Also, if the main problem with people not going to the doctor or receiving medical treatment is because it is too expensive, and if these medical companies have such huge profits because their products and services are so outrageously expensive, why would it not make sense to use those profits to help the people who need it?

the iceman:

spoken like a true communist, attack the profit margin, show your colours, wave that little red book with pride, comrade. what comes around.....you are making too much profit in your business, you may be next for the profit police!!

 

 Are you loosing your grip or what?   Workers are being asked and forced to accept less wages, it is everywhere these days, accept less, lower living standards.  

And for your information we are already being forced to take less profits because working people have less money and they can't afford to pay as much.

And to top this off sounds just like a really loonie communist going off the deep-end by replying to a statement that was simply stating what was under discussion without expressing any endorsement or showing opposition to it.

Red colors indeed, like a bull in a pasture when someone is just showing what is on the table, but all he sees is what he thinks is a  red flag.

Sounds like somebody smoked something a little stronger than a cigarette.

I really do not care how much or what you smoked, keep waving that red book

Nice twist Iceman,  but if anyone is a red book waver you would most definitely qualify as one of them.

How about a long vacation in Mexico or Somalia,  less government regs and certainly less social programs.

Look around and see how the majority live and see if that works for you. 

sorry, but is this one of your lame attempts at humor? it is you thumping the socialist class envy drum at every chance, but leave it to you to confuse a Libertarian with a socialist such as yourself, now go play nice with the fake magoo

 You must be getting desperate falling back once again on the same old worn out Pants on Fire Rush Limbaugh tactics.

Tsk tsk,  my granddaughter has a toy teacup that will hold more water than those arguements will.

Are you having to draw those unemployment checks yet or are you still hanging in there ?

anyone here drinking from the pants on fire teacup here it should be you, and not a teacup, more like a fire hose and thanks for asking but no ui, i just signed for 5 more race boats going to NZ and 2 going to OZ, and still no stimuluflop money from the thug

Barbara Jones:

  LOL,  Iceman I was asking for sources for verification not who wrote the article.

Nevermind I checked it out myself,  it is not settled yet whether there will taxes on class 111 medical devices, but yes it is being considered as a way to help finance the reform (AKA SOCIALISM).

Currently the profit margin on these more expensive items is quite large and Congress has asked the medical device board of directors to cut costs enough to allow the tax without it raising costs, and supposedly the increase in sales due to the expansion in insurance coverage would offset the cut in profits to allow for the tax without it raising costs in order to get coverage to more people.

 The medical device board of directors oppose this and will not agree to cutting profits, as they don't think the increase in coverage would be enough to offset the cuts and tax and they will loose profits.  Of course it won't offset anything because you will have bureaucrates deciding who will get one of these devices.

 

It comes back to the same story over and over again,  financing increased coverage for the have nots whose labor has or does make the profits for the haves = versus profit for the haves.

With the lower profit margin companies caught in the middle feeling the pain.  WE will ALL feel the PAIN!

 

SOCIALISM DOES NOT WORK.

 

 

Who are you calling a fake iceman?  Are we not all merely players on this very small stage?  In the role of the always pompous, extremely arrogant and unbelievably ignorant Rush Limbaugh, we have Mr. Magoo.  Next we have a conspiracy nut named Glenn Beck who drums up fake support for his beliefs and cries like a little baby any time he doesn't get his way, played very well by surveybob.  And then of course there is you, Mr. Duke.  Enough said.

 

a lame try at best fake magoo

MsMagoo:

Who are you calling a fake iceman?  Are we not all merely players on this very small stage?  In the role of the always pompous, extremely arrogant and unbelievably ignorant Rush Limbaugh, we have Mr. Magoo.  Next we have a conspiracy nut named Glenn Beck who drums up fake support for his beliefs and cries like a little baby any time he doesn't get his way, played very well by surveybob.  And then of course there is you, Mr. Duke.  Enough said.

----------------------

Ms. Magoo, I dont know who you are or where you came from, but the above made me laugh my *** off. its hilarious because its so incredibly accurate.

Oh and let me guess kris - with your beliefs that all people should be treated equally, fairly and differences should be tolerated regardless of race gender, political beliefs, etc..... With your common sense approach you must be playing the role of Meathead from All in the Family.  Good luck in your debates with Archie.

Isn't role playing fun?

xoxo HUGS xoxo

LOL and bob said there was a lack of substance on the forums with all the policing. If thats not great material, I dont know what is!