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Today, Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) issued the following statement after voting in support of the Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012 (H.R. 436).  The Democrat health care law, Obamacare, contains many items that are harmful to both patients and businesses.  H.R. 436 repeals important provisions from Obamacare by combining four bipartisan bills to reduce health care costs, protect jobs, and reduce the deficit.

The Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012 repeals the 2.3% excise tax on medical devices (from devices for your heart to your knees) scheduled to take place in 2013.  It also repeals the limitation on reimbursement of the over-the-counter medications from health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending arrangements (FSA), health reimbursement arrangements (HRA), or medical savings accounts (MSA) that took effect in 2011. 

“This bill will save up to 47,000 jobs, support medical innovation and provide American families with more choices and flexibility.  The medical device tax is one of the most onerous taxes contained in the health care law, and short of full repeal of Obamacare, this tax needs to be repealed,” Latta said.  “Like many industries, the medical device industry is an American industry, and we cannot afford these companies to leave the United States for more tax friendly countries.  Also, in the end, American consumers will end up paying for this tax in higher costs.  There are few industries that have had such positive growth over the past several years as the medical device industry, and in this downward economy, these jobs are more important than ever.”   

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