When embattled Congresswoman Shelley Berkley voted for President Barack Obama’s $1.76 trillion healthcare law, it hit medical device companies in the country with a 2.3 percent tax and last week she voted in the House Ways and Means Committee to repeal this tax, but today she voted against repealing this tax.
Medical device companies employ more than 400,000 Americans and this burdensome tax could eliminate 10 percent of the jobs in the industry, while encouraging these companies to move their plants overseas.
As The Associated Press reports:
The tax, which takes effect next January, applies to everything from replacement joints to imaging equipment but exempts consumer products like eyeglasses and bandages. … U.S. medical device makers employ more than 400,000 people. The industry’s largest trade group, AdvaMed, cites a study it commissioned that concluded the new tax could cost 43,000 of those jobs — about 10 percent — while doubling companies’ tax bills and encouraging them to move plants overseas. (Alan Fram, GOP plays offense in medical device tax fight, Associated Press, 06/05/12)
“Shelley Berkley thought about repealing the job-killing medical device tax, but once again Nancy Pelosi twisted her arm and convinced her to double-down on ObamaCare,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox. “Given that the medical device tax could kill 43,000 jobs, it’s clear Berkley would rather stand with her liberal allies than fight for the thousands of Nevadans in the healthcare industry.”
BACKGROUND …
Berkley Supported ObamaCare
- Berkley Voted For The Final Version Of The Obama-Pelosi-Reid Health Care Bill That President Obama Later Signed Into Law. (H.R. 3590, CQ Vote #165: Motion Agreed To 219-212: R 0-178; D 219-34, 3/21/10, Berkley Voted Yea)
