Wounded Warriors Face New Tax This Independence Day?
Jul 20 2010
Must Be Election Time
No need to go into deep detail in the introduction for this viral email targeting President Obama for the veterans audience. Battle of the Bilge will be back soon as MOAA once again proves it is a great place to work for and this author will be returning from Paternity leave.
The Email
Wounded Warriors Face New Tax This Independence Day
From John Kartch and Ryan Ellis on Friday, July 2, 2010 12:51 PM
As the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day with parades and barbecues, America’s veterans face a new tax on prosthetic limbs and other vital medical devices.
The health care overhaul passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama earlier this year contains a new tax on medical devices such as prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, and wheelchairs. This tax, which its proponents claim will raise $20 billion over the next ten years, contains no exemption for the nation’s 22 million veterans. In fact, Senate Democrats specifically refused to exempt veterans from the tax.
On March 24 2010, Senate Democrats rejected an amendment offered by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to the healthcare bill. This amendment (SA 3644) would have prevented the medical device tax from hitting veterans covered by the Veterans Healthcare Program or TRICARE for Life. This amendment was rejected by a vote of 44-54. All but five Democrat senators voted in favor of retaining the tax for veterans.
The medical device tax was one of over twenty new or higher taxes in President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul. This permanent new tax is being collected now.
“On March 24, Senate Democrats had the opportunity to exempt our veterans from Obamacare’s new tax on medical devices such as prosthetic limbs. But 54 Democrats voted against the measure. They chose to side with the tax-and-spend crowd in Washington over our wounded warriors,”said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “This is one of the many reasons Harry Reid and the Democrats did not want Americans to read the 2,500 page health care bill before it was passed.”
In addition to those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports the following number of veterans from America’s wars:
World War II: 2,079,000
Korean War: 2,507,000
Vietnam War: 7,569,000
Desert Shield/Storm: 2,254,000
No, Just No
First of all, the tax that was approved will be levied against the companies that provide the equipment and prosthetics, not against veterans.
For the beneficiaries, the devices are provided without charge through the VA and are not taxed under TRICARE.
Discussion
Posts are not held for moderation so your comment will appear immediately, but may be modified if it is deemed inappropriate.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Christie, Matthew LoFiego. Matthew LoFiego said: Wounded Warriors Face New Tax This Independence Day? http://bit.ly/cxsnl7 via @AddToAny [...]
It is quite simple: if the government raises the expense of a company doing business, it is forced to pass on the expense to the customer patient. And Tricare does have a cost share for medical devices for patients. Increase the cost and the patient will in fact get an increase in copay. You mean no tax, but increase in copay is the same thing. I am amazed at how those who support government involvement try to ignore the fact that we live in a capitalist environment. And increase in taxes results in more cost to the consumer; basic economics.
Good point John, but a hypothetical increase in a copay is definitely not what this email is promoting.