Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Hip, Hip, Hooray?

Obamacare and the law of intended consequences.  Starting Jan 1st the 2.3% "medical devices" tax arrives.  So much for containing costs.


MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The U.S. Internal Revenue Service should have its hands full in dealing with implementation of the new taxes and rules contained in the Affordable Care Act.
The federal agency must handle more than 40 changes to the tax code as well as make sure appropriate recipients get new tax credits and individuals and businesses pay penalties for any non-compliance.
Included among those new laws is the 2.3% medical device sales tax slated to take effect January 1, 2013, which industry stakeholders are actively lobbying against.
The IRS has said its ready to tackle the new laws, but some are concerned that the agency isn't prepared to manage the potentially gargantuan task.
"They're going to be very strained," former IRS commissioner Mark Everson told Politico. "The main thing is the vast amount of information required for the IRS to collect and dispense. (...) There's a lot of complexity to it."
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The link also includes another link to the "doc fix" dilemna. In short Medicare reimbursement has been scheduled for years to drop but apparently even FedGov is powerless in the dace of market forces in this case. The rates are too low to provide services and the savings keep getting delayed.

Edit:  Added a sexier hip picture to keep down my disreputation and hopefully get skk to start reading.  ;-)

8 comments:

Cinco-X said...

"Starting Jan 1st the 2.3% "medical devices" tax arrives. So much for containing costs....[the IRS] should have its hands full in dealing with implementation of the new taxes and rules contained in the Affordable Care Act."

New Speak FTW...BTW, who pays this tax?

sm_landlord said...

So the FedGov wants to collect a dividend from the medical devices industry.

Wonder if they will be able to pass the costs through, as this seems to me like another move that would support "medical tourism". Of course, the IRS could always open branches in Thailand, Mexico, and other popular surgical destinations. And of the course the people who make these devices now have a good reason to move offshore as well.

Lovely, just lovely.

Cinco-X said...

"sm_landlord said...So the FedGov wants to collect a dividend from the medical devices industry.
Wonder if they will be able to pass the costs through, as this seems to me like another move that would support "medical tourism"...the course the people who make these devices now have a good reason to move offshore as well."


You identify a number of the salient issues...Of course they will be able to pass on this business expense, but I suspect you intended that remark as a rhetorical device. Yes, it may encourage medical tourism, but that might be a bug not a feature, since I doubt that ObamaCare will pay for offshore procedures...
And finally, I'm sure that higher taxes everywhere will encourage all MNCs (not just medical device companies) to export jobs and expertise overseas...

sm_landlord said...

"Yes, it may encourage medical tourism, but that might be a bug not a feature, since I doubt that ObamaCare will pay for offshore procedures..."

Insurance companies as well as some self-insured corps are already pushing patients to have their surgeries done at remote locations, some on shore, some off. My guess is that trend continues to its logical conclusion...

Cinco-X said...

sm_landlord said... My guess is that trend continues to its logical conclusion...

When that conclusion arrives, I wonder how logical it will seem in hindsight?

Rob Dawg said...

When that conclusion arrives, I wonder how logical it will seem in hindsight?

They'll say hoocoodanode it was a false economy?

Somebody invite Black Star Ranch over here. He's getting fed up with the crap too. He doesn't publish an email so I can't do it.

Cinco-X said...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2012/11/25/do-you-live-in-a-death-spiral-state/

Eleven states make our list of danger spots for investors. They can look forward to a rising tax burden, deteriorating state finances and an exodus of employers. The list includes California, New York, Illinois and Ohio, along with some smaller states like New Mexico and Hawaii.

No so much on topic, but you do a lot of housing and government bond discussions...

sk said...

it worked ! though I wouldn't call it reading.