Medical Device Manufacturers Taking a Hit

Last Friday, we got word that 290,000 jobs were added in the month of April, yet the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.9%. Most startlingly though is the number of long-term unemployed – those out of work for 27 weeks or longer – that now account for a record 46 percent of the unemployed.

This is a harsh reminder that families and small businesses are still struggling mightily, and unfortunately, the spend-now, pay-later agenda of this Administration and liberal Congress won’t right our economic ship anytime soon. It will only further sink it.

Take for instance the President’s trillion-dollar health care bill containing $569.2 billion in job-killing tax increases. It seems like every day that passes we come across another landmine within its 2,000 pages of legalese, loopholes and massive liabilities.

For example, there’s the $20 billion excise tax on medical device companies like Minnesota's own Medtronic, which by their own estimate will cost them $150 to $200 million annually beginning in 2013. Additionally, Massachusetts medical-device companies will also cut back on operational costs after the tax goes into effect.

The Boston Herald reports that:

“The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, which held its annual meeting yesterday in Boston, said about 90 percent of the 100 medical-device firms said they would reduce costs due to the new tax tucked into the recently passed health-care reform bill. The tax - imposed to help pay for the massive health-care industry overhaul and expansion - is ‘of the greatest concern’ to a majority of its members, the survey found.”

One thing we know for certain is that this is not the direction we want to be going if our goal is to spur economic development and job growth.