MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Opponents of the medical device tax have a few celebrities on their side, perhaps newest among them former presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Cain penned an anti-tax editorial last week for WSBRadio.com, where he’s the host of a show that boasts the tag-line "Ask the Hermanator."
"The medical device tax is one of the most onerous elements of ObamaCare, and that’s saying something," Cain wrote. "By taxing medical device makers 2.3 percent of all gross sales, the tax is designed to raise $29 billion. In the process, of course, it creates a huge disincentive for innovation in health care that can drive costs down, and serves to depress job creation in the medical device industry."
Cain wrote his editorial in response to the a recent vote in which the Senate voted 79-20 in favor of a bipartisan amendment to repeal the medical device tax. The non-binding measure, proposed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), was part of the Senate’s continuing budget resolution.
As Cain noted, the Senate vote is far from the last word on the tax.
"The Senate measure was attached to a non-binding resolution, so while 79 senators have gone on record as favoring the repeal, they have not yet passed a bill that they can send to the House for action," he wrote. "That means this could be one of Harry Reid’s infamous tricks. Hold a vote that allows you to say you took action on repeal, and then when people ask why the tax isn’t actually repealed, offer some mumbo jumbo about parliamentary procedure, blame House Republicans and move on to the next question."
"This is one where the people really need to keep the pressure on," Cain added.
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