CANTON, IL - Following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the government health care takeover, U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) is calling for an end to the job-killing medical device tax within the law. Businesses like Cook Medical, a manufacturer of medical supplies and devices based in Canton, Ill., have been forced to cut back on hiring and production plans because of the expensive new tax on medical supplies and devices.
“We can’t afford more taxes on job-creators, especially in this struggling economy," Schilling said. "Hard-working Americans in places like Canton know that the health care takeover is nothing but a massive tax increase disguised as health care reform. We must do everything we can to repeal the job-killing government health care takeover and replace it with bipartisan, transparent health care reform that lowers skyrocketing health care costs while increasing access to care for all Americans.
Steve Ferguson, Chairman of Cook Medical, said he opposed the medical device tax.
"This medical device tax isn't just hurting business, it's hurting our ability to hire and create jobs, and it will delay access to breakthrough medical technologies for American patients," Ferguson said. "We need this tax to be repealed."
Schilling said that, while he supports repeal of the entire health care takeover, he hopes that a bipartisan agreement can be reached to repeal the medical device tax on its own.
"As we did with getting rid of the onerous 1099 reporting requirements, I believe this is an area where we should be able to find common ground, work with both sides of the aisle, and come to a solution," Schilling said. "The medical device tax is clearly a detriment to small business, and we need to move forward with repealing this job-killing element of the health care takeover."
