The irony of the medical device tax standoff

There are any number of contradictions and ironies in the federal budget stalemate that has shut the government down, none more than the focus on a repeal of the medical device tax as a way out of the quagmire.

Many Republicans, save the fully entrenched right, are abandoning the idea of using the budget and debt ceiling deadlines to force the “defund and repeal” of the Affordable Care Act. But, clearly, they have to save face somehow and many are now focusing on a repeal of the 2.3 percent medical device tax as a way to claim a partial victory at the expense of Obamacare. It is a pelt they will wear when they return to their districts to show they can and will chip away at the president’s signature initiative.

The Republicans seeking out a victory point to the tax as a bipartisan pain in the butt, citing public statements from the likes of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, both darlings of the left and reliable votes to retain Obamacare. They also cite a Senate resolution in March where a bipartisan majority voted its disdain for the tax.

But therein lays the first of the ironies, not to mention the contradiction of someone like Warren preaching the tax-killing gospel of House Speaker John Boehner. Warren and Franken, as well as their respective junior Democratic colleagues from their home states, Sens. Ed Markey and Amy Klobucher, said while they would support a repeal, they cannot entertain it as part of a deal to get the government running again. Which raises the question: If Congress passes a “clean” budget bill and debt ceiling measure, and then lawmakers respond by repealing the medical device tax, what’s the difference? Perhaps none, but it looks good.

There are other Democrats who say their vote to diss the device tax was in a vacuum and the only way they could support it is to find another source of funding. The tax is a key part of the bill, estimated to raise about $30 billion over the next 10 years. The money will go to offset the cost of implementing the ACA. Though medical device manufacturers claim they are being singled out, they are, in fact, being asked to contribute the same way hospitals ($155 billion), drugmakers ($80 billion), and insurers ($60) have. In fact, many argue that device makers will reap the most from Obamacare with an estimated 30 million more customers that will now have insurance to pay for the high-cost devices ranging from pacemakers to hip replacements.

Some Democrats, such as Sen. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, fears a repeal of the tax could trigger other industries coming to Congress for relief, removing some $370 billion needed to fund the initiative. (One can almost hear Republicans saying, “From your lips to God’s ear.”)

Opponents of the tax say it has already cost the flight of “tens of thousands” of jobs around the country as device manufacturers flee to more hospitable sites around the globe. But the Annenberg Foundation’s Factcheck.org found little evidence of that, only a white paper from a conservative think tank estimating 43,000 jobs will be lost because of the tax. Also, as supporters point out, devices that are imported will still be subject to the tax, though exports are exempt, giving US-based companies a leg up in international markets. About the only ones who have an unchallenged claim are veterinarians. The device tax will be passed onto them because they use many of the same machines used for humans but without the offsetting benefits because there is no individual mandate to insure Rover.

Perhaps the biggest irony is who would benefit from the GOP’s effort to repeal the tax – the bluest of the blue states. Warren and Markey and nearly all the state’s congressional delegation are behind a repeal because Massachusetts is second only to California, who last voted for a Republican president 25 years ago, in the size of the medical device industry. Not far behind are Franken’s home state of Minnesota, squarely in the Democratic column since 1956, and Illinois, home of the guy Obamacare is named for.

Perhaps Republicans might want to rethink their efforts to use the defibrillator paddles on  the patient and slap a DNR on it.

 

–JACK SULLIVAN

   

BEACON HILL

Massachusetts lawmakers advance an amendment to the state constitution that would allow voters to cast their ballots up to 10 days in advance of an election, the Associated Press reports.

CASINOS

The House passes a revised tribal casino pact, the Associated Press reports.

Easton, tabbed by the developer of the proposed slots parlor in Raynham as the only “surrounding community” entitled to mitigation, is seeking $1 million in compensation to ease the impact of the planned facility at the former dog track.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua moves to fire a police officer who was found guilty of a bribery scheme. The officer had been suspended with pay prior to his trial, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

Boston school bus drivers are back on the job , but tensions remain high after a pair of union officials land on paid suspension . The Globe reports that the one-day walkout brought a reminder of the fiery Tom Menino of old.

A Quincy city councilor is trying to change the zoning regulations to oust a drug screening facility for court-ordered referrals that has operated for 14 years in a neighborhood near two schools.

Framingham dispenses with a special overlay district for medical marijuana businesses and opts instead to use existing zones

NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON

The New York Times warns of open warfare between traditionally pro-GOP business forces and the party’s Tea Party wing. House leaders mull a short-term extension of the federal debt limit.  

ELECTIONS

Labor disputes involving the city’s police and school bus drivers have cast a spotlight on Boston mayoral candidate Marty Walsh , a former union official whose campaign has been supported by at least $900,000 thus far in expenditures from unions.

A day after Walsh rolled out high-profile endorsements from two former mayoral contenders, his rival in the November 5 final election, John Connolly , announced a trio of endorsements from elected officials: state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz , state Sen. Sal DiDomenico , and City Councilor Sal LaMattina . Connolly will roll out endorsements from a group of ministers today. Meanwhile, The Bay State Banner looks at  the Walsh and Connolly efforts to attract African American and Latino voters.

Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan , a former state prosecutor, says reports of his ties to a local businessman with alleged connections to the New England mob are being used as a political weapon to derail his reelection. He says Joseph Ruggerio, who was voted onto the Fall River Office of Economic Development after the mayor nominated him, told him he’s not a member of the Rhode Island Mafia even though court documents and federal prosecutors appear to counter that claim.

Methuen City Council candidate Robert Le Blanc, who also works as an attorney for the state Democratic Party, is coming under fire for stalking allegations, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

With the election still more than a year away, Charlie Baker brought his campaign to the political hotbed George’s Cafe in Brockton , where the only declared GOP candidate proposed a couple ideas out of the Obama administration playbook and vowed to visit the city a lot over the next 13 months.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Dunkin’ Donuts has agreed to keep its headquarters in Canton after selectmen voted to extend the Tax Incentive Finance agreement through 2025.

EDUCATION

Charter school parents march against Bill de Blasio in New York .

Roxbury residents and politicians want Northeastern to incorporate more housing for students in its 10-year master plan.

The Berkshire Eagle wants Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle to step up and face the music.

HEALTH CARE

Partners HealthCare, seeks to acquire hospitals in Melrose and Lawrence , WBUR reports.

The North Shore Medical Center, which is owned by Partners HealthCare, announces a $200 million expansion of Salem Hospital, a reorientation of Lynn Union Hospital, and an investment in community health centers, the Salem News reports. The plan to shift the focus of the Lynn hospital to psychiatric care angers officials in Lynn , the Item reports.

SCIENCE

Harvard emeritus professor Martin Karplus shares the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his work developing computer programs that aid the understanding of molecular behavior, an advance that has had implications in everything from HIV to Alzheimer’s disease research.  

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

The state’s cranberry harvest is expected to match last year’s take.

Some like it hot: And the rest are out of luck when extreme heat waves become the norm in the next 30 years, according to a recently published climate change study.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Police charge a 32-year-old voice teacher from Haverhill with impregnating a 14-year-old girl from Amesbury, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

Prosecutors are trying to get Judge Susan Garsh removed from the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, claiming in their motion there is a “well-known and publicly documented history of antagonism.”

MEDIA

Mel Miller, publisher of The Bay State Banner, is selling his New Hampshire vacation home to pay off a loan the Banner received from an affiliate of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, CommonWealth reports. 

Climate change protesters hit WGBH.

A forthcoming Essence magazine study finds that African-American women continue to be stereotyped in the media.