Stupid Party is — surprise! — stupid:
Lawmakers want to suspend two Affordable Care Act taxes, starting with the collection of a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices, for two years.
Companies including Elyria-based Invacare and STERIS of Mentor have pushed to repeal the device tax since the Affordable Care Act passed in early 2010.
Democrats maintained at the time that the tax would not harm companies financially because the health law would boost business enough to compensate. But a number of Democrats have since joined the critics, and Democratic and Republican negotiators agreed this week to include the suspensions in a year-end bill to extend a number of unrelated tax credits.
The medical device industry says that since the tax started being collected in 2013, thousands of jobs have either been lost or were not created. If Congress approves the tax package, the tax will be suspended in 2016 and 2017, according to the office of U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohioan who has pushed to eliminate the tax entirely.
Elimination efforts, backed by the medical device industry, are likely to continue, although the White House will oppose them.
Additionally, the late-year spending deal hammered out by Republicans and Democrats and announced late Tuesday will delay for two years the imposition of the so-called Cadillac tax on high-value health plans.
In addition to all the other Democrat-friendly goodies Speaker Ryan larded the omnibus spending bill with, he’s also thrown the Democrats a lifeline on the dreaded Cadillac tax.
Shave the beard, Mr Speaker — we see through it.
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