WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today delivered the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to H.R. 160, the repeal of the Medical Device Tax established under the Affordable Care Act:
There are certain basic facts here.
One is that this industry participated in the creation of health care reform. They, like other providers, were involved. And like other providers, they said that they would participate in helping to pay for it. They did so because they understood that they would benefit from the millions of Americans that would gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. That’s a fact. And now, they want out.
And the fact is that they have benefited from it. According to a recent analysis by Ernst and Young, the industry’s revenue increased by $8 billion in the year the tax took effect. Spending on R&D by the industry increased by 6 percent in the same year. And the same year, employment increased by 23,500.
Another fact is that this applies to imports, as well as those produced in this country, and not at all to exports.
So those are the facts.
There’s another aspect. If people vote for this industry to go back on its commitment to participate, other providers are going to ask for the same treatment. In that respect, what the Republicans are aiming to do is to unravel the ACA.
Furthermore, this bill is unpaid for. When you add this unpaid for provision, you get well over $610 billion that the Republicans have passed as permanent tax cuts this year without paying for one dime.
And the President has said that he would veto this bill. Let me just read from the statement of Administration policy:
“The Affordable Care Act has improved the American health care system, on which Americans can rely throughout life. After more than five years under this law, 16.4 million Americans have gained health coverage. Up to 129 million people who could have otherwise been denied or faced discrimination now have access to coverage. And, health care prices have risen at the slowest rate in nearly 50 years. As we work to make the system even better, we are open to ideas that improve the accessibility, affordability, and quality of health care, and help middle-class Americans. … In sum, H.R. 160 would increase the deficit to finance a permanent and costly tax break for industry without improving the health system or helping middle-class Americans. If the President were presented with H.R. 160, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."
So I close with this: People can be provincial in the sense that they will respond to one pressure point or another. And I understand that. But what you have to do is look at an entire system and what it means for Americans in this country.
This industry, as I said, participated in helping to pay for health care reform. They have benefited from it. Now they’re coming forth and saying, “just take us out of it." That’s unfair, unwise, irresponsible, and sets a pattern that will do what Republicans really want to do, which is to pick apart this reform which has been 75 years in the making.
So I urge everybody to look at the broader interest of the people of this country and to vote No.
