Rep. McKinley Votes to Strike Down ObamaCare Tax

Press Release

Today, Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-W.Va.) voted to prevent a 2.3 percent tax from being implemented on the sale of medical devices such as tongue depressors, wheelchairs, prosthetics and thousands of other items.

The medical device tax was included in President Obama's health care bill. "This is another blow to the middle class and a direct result of ObamaCare," said Rep. McKinley. "If we don't act, this tax will be passed onto consumers and cause companies to lay off workers and cut funding for research and development. This bill repeals the medical device tax and will, in turn, save thousands of jobs. Like many provisions in the health care bill, the medical device tax makes health care more expensive."

The bill will also remove the restrictions on the purchase of over-the-counter drugs through health savings accounts and removes the "use-it or lose-it" rule on Health Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSA) to allow Americans to cash out their accounts at the end of the year.

A study estimates this new tax could result in the loss of up to 43,000 American jobs. More than 400,000 people in the U.S. are directly employed by the medical device industry, including hundreds of jobs in the Ohio Valley.

"As a former small business owner, I know how new taxes can cripple the bottom line," said Rep. McKinley. "Since four out of five medical device companies in the U.S. have 50 or fewer employees, we need to fight for these small businesses so this tax doesn't cause layoffs, stunt growth or prevent innovation."

The bill passed by a 270 to 146 vote.

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