Looks like we get to be the first generation in quite some time that sees a reduction in life expectancy. Yay!!!
Dems Ask for Delay to Obamacare Med Device Tax They Voted for in the First Place
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FOX News - Politics - Latest Headlines - Medical companies brace for 'devastating' ObamaCare tax, prepare for layoffs
Medical companies brace for 'devastating' ObamaCare tax, prepare for layoffs
Andre DiMino has been running medical device company ADM Tronics since his father, who founded the decades-old firm, died in 2001. He's never laid off anybody.
"These people are like family with us," he said.
The boss might not be able to hold out much longer. Come Jan. 1, an ObamaCare-tied tax specific to his industry is expected to go into effect. Though the Obama administration has downplayed the impact, DiMino calls it "devastating."
"I think after all of these decades of not laying people off, I think we may have to face that," DiMino told FoxNews.com. He predicted he might have to immediately lay off three people in his manufacturing division and possibly more after that.
DiMino, whose Bergen County, N.J., business currently employs 20 workers, is one of hundreds of CEOs across the country clamoring for Washington's attention, urging lawmakers to kill the tax before it kills jobs.
In just the last few days, the intense lobbying push elicited some measure of response. On Monday, 18 Democratic senators and senators-elect asked Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to delay the tax, citing the business impact. They noted the industry employs more than 400,000 people, and is dealing with "significant uncertainty and confusion."
Many in the industry, though, have been clear-eyed about what the tax means -- preemptive layoffs and significant cutbacks in research and development.
[pullquote]
While DiMino is waiting for next year to see if he'll need to fire workers, over at Uresil, LLC, in Skokie, Ill., the layoffs have already started. The company laid off six people from its 52-person workforce earlier this year, "primarily related" to the tax, President Lev Melinyshyn said.
"We had never laid off anybody," he told FoxNews.com. "We bought the company in 2004, never had a lay-off. In fact, even during the recession, we added jobs. ... It wasn't until this tax hit us that we had to do it."
Melinyshyn, whose company makes specialized catheters, said he thinks that at current staffing levels, his 46-person company can handle the tax -- however, he's expecting to cut back sharply on product development, which hurts in the long run.
"A lot of patients, I think, are not going to benefit from new technologies," he said. "We've literally put all of our new product development on hold ... so we can afford to pay the stupid tax."
The Affordable Care Act imposed the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices with the goal of raising nearly $30 billion over the next decade. Manufacturers say the impact of the tax is far greater than meets the eye -- the 2.3 percent tax is on gross sales, meaning it's a much greater percentage of net income.
Melinyshyn, for instance, said his total tax burden on profits will rise from 43 percent to 65 percent next year.
"It's huge," he said.
The Advanced Medical Technology Association estimates that the tax ultimately could cost up to 43,000 jobs.
It's unclear, though, whether any attempt to delay or quash it could be made as part of negotiations over the looming fiscal crisis. Far more attention has been paid to the expiration of the Bush-era tax rates -- and the battle over whether to allow rates to rise exclusively for the top 2 percent.
The IRS recently provided some relief to worried medical device executives, announcing that penalties would not be imposed for failing to pay the tax for the first three quarters of 2013.
The Obama administration earlier this year defended the medical device tax, saying companies actually stand to benefit from the law. Though the 2.3 percent tax hits the industry, the department argues that the millions of new health care customers insured as a result of the law will increase the demand in hospitals to order more equipment -- in turn boosting medical device companies' profits.
The White House earlier this year threatened to veto a House bill that would have repealed the tax, citing concerns that the House proposal would offset the lost revenue from the tax by cutting down on subsidies for some families.
This, the White House said, would effectively "raise taxes on middle-class and low-income families."
The industry, though, argues Congress could always negotiate a different way to pay for the repeal.
Medical companies brace for 'devastating' ObamaCare tax, prepare for layoffs
Andre DiMino has been running medical device company ADM Tronics since his father, who founded the decades-old firm, died in 2001. He's never laid off anybody.
"These people are like family with us," he said.
The boss might not be able to hold out much longer. Come Jan. 1, an ObamaCare-tied tax specific to his industry is expected to go into effect. Though the Obama administration has downplayed the impact, DiMino calls it "devastating."
"I think after all of these decades of not laying people off, I think we may have to face that," DiMino told FoxNews.com. He predicted he might have to immediately lay off three people in his manufacturing division and possibly more after that.
DiMino, whose Bergen County, N.J., business currently employs 20 workers, is one of hundreds of CEOs across the country clamoring for Washington's attention, urging lawmakers to kill the tax before it kills jobs.
In just the last few days, the intense lobbying push elicited some measure of response. On Monday, 18 Democratic senators and senators-elect asked Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to delay the tax, citing the business impact. They noted the industry employs more than 400,000 people, and is dealing with "significant uncertainty and confusion."
Many in the industry, though, have been clear-eyed about what the tax means -- preemptive layoffs and significant cutbacks in research and development.
[pullquote]
While DiMino is waiting for next year to see if he'll need to fire workers, over at Uresil, LLC, in Skokie, Ill., the layoffs have already started. The company laid off six people from its 52-person workforce earlier this year, "primarily related" to the tax, President Lev Melinyshyn said.
"We had never laid off anybody," he told FoxNews.com. "We bought the company in 2004, never had a lay-off. In fact, even during the recession, we added jobs. ... It wasn't until this tax hit us that we had to do it."
Melinyshyn, whose company makes specialized catheters, said he thinks that at current staffing levels, his 46-person company can handle the tax -- however, he's expecting to cut back sharply on product development, which hurts in the long run.
"A lot of patients, I think, are not going to benefit from new technologies," he said. "We've literally put all of our new product development on hold ... so we can afford to pay the stupid tax."
The Affordable Care Act imposed the 2.3 percent tax on medical devices with the goal of raising nearly $30 billion over the next decade. Manufacturers say the impact of the tax is far greater than meets the eye -- the 2.3 percent tax is on gross sales, meaning it's a much greater percentage of net income.
Melinyshyn, for instance, said his total tax burden on profits will rise from 43 percent to 65 percent next year.
"It's huge," he said.
The Advanced Medical Technology Association estimates that the tax ultimately could cost up to 43,000 jobs.
It's unclear, though, whether any attempt to delay or quash it could be made as part of negotiations over the looming fiscal crisis. Far more attention has been paid to the expiration of the Bush-era tax rates -- and the battle over whether to allow rates to rise exclusively for the top 2 percent.
The IRS recently provided some relief to worried medical device executives, announcing that penalties would not be imposed for failing to pay the tax for the first three quarters of 2013.
The Obama administration earlier this year defended the medical device tax, saying companies actually stand to benefit from the law. Though the 2.3 percent tax hits the industry, the department argues that the millions of new health care customers insured as a result of the law will increase the demand in hospitals to order more equipment -- in turn boosting medical device companies' profits.
The White House earlier this year threatened to veto a House bill that would have repealed the tax, citing concerns that the House proposal would offset the lost revenue from the tax by cutting down on subsidies for some families.
This, the White House said, would effectively "raise taxes on middle-class and low-income families."
The industry, though, argues Congress could always negotiate a different way to pay for the repeal.
There lies the problem - these regulations aren't for the benefit of anyone but larger companies that own massive hospitals/medical chains (and trust me - they will benefit out of this whole fiasco).
Those are the same large companies that people were bitching about jacking up our healthcare (so we obviously have to pass a bill that gives us "free" healthcare... which hands the largest government contract in history over to medical companies... large ones).
Personally, if you thought Romney and Obama were all that different, you're part of the problem - they did a good job of bamboozling both sides into a "connect-four-screwed-either-way" situation and we all thought we had a choice.
Funny.... wasn't someone on this board just recently saying that no one is really going to be cutting back on work or hours or hiring or R&D or such due to the new tax issues? That is all a lie and a smokescreen, or people just being lazy and stupid? I distinctly remember a conversation along those lines...
And yet, here were have multiple personal accounts (not to mention the dozens or hundreds of anecdotal accounts all over our state and country) from this board alone where people are complaining their personal physicians are cutting back, transitioning elsewhere or leaving altogether. Hmmm... one of the most highly-educated segments of our society. Say it ain't so. Why... what a bunch of alarmists! I'm sure none of them have run the numbers, talked to their accountants or anything like that before giving up their medical practices.
Hell, one of my mentors recently did the same. She was the most dedicated physician I've even worked with, but with the new .gov regs rolling out even before Obamacare and the need to align with larger and larger and more controlling healthcare groups just to make ends meet, she was working 15+ hours a day. Then, at the end of the month, while the .gov sat on payments for months on end, she ended up in the red. After working her ass off. So what did she do???? Take a guess? She walked away... packed up and moved out of state to take a job as a hospitalist. Punch a clock, do your time, go home. So much for expanding primary care.
Only gonna get worse, folks.
And yet, here were have multiple personal accounts (not to mention the dozens or hundreds of anecdotal accounts all over our state and country) from this board alone where people are complaining their personal physicians are cutting back, transitioning elsewhere or leaving altogether. Hmmm... one of the most highly-educated segments of our society. Say it ain't so. Why... what a bunch of alarmists! I'm sure none of them have run the numbers, talked to their accountants or anything like that before giving up their medical practices.
Hell, one of my mentors recently did the same. She was the most dedicated physician I've even worked with, but with the new .gov regs rolling out even before Obamacare and the need to align with larger and larger and more controlling healthcare groups just to make ends meet, she was working 15+ hours a day. Then, at the end of the month, while the .gov sat on payments for months on end, she ended up in the red. After working her ass off. So what did she do???? Take a guess? She walked away... packed up and moved out of state to take a job as a hospitalist. Punch a clock, do your time, go home. So much for expanding primary care.
Only gonna get worse, folks.
I'm sure the administration will just point to this as another example of the bourgeoisie capitalist pigs sticking it to the proletariat!
Oh wait, let make the buisness give out health insurance. In return they must fire 200 people to pay for the others to have it.
Call me part of the problem then; I voted for Romney because he WASN'T Obama.
Since 1995, my wife and I have gone through 5 General Practicioners for a variety of reasons which all involved getting out of the rat race. And, this was before Obamacare. Heaven help us now. We have a good young lady MD now, who is practicing in her hometown, so, unless they totally dump on her, she'll probably stay for awhile. If not, I don't know where we'll go for another. A lot of doctors are no longer taking Medicare patients.
Romney promised to get rid of obamacare. Big difference.
And it'll be Bush's fault that health care in America is equal to some Aboriginal village witch doctors brush arbor clinic.
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