Kevin Roberts: “it is my understanding that we have reached an understanding that this amendment will be a side-by-side amendment to the…”

“it is my understanding that we have reached an understanding that this amendment will be a side-by-side amendment to the amendment offered by Senator Cardin. So at the time it would be considered we would have the vote. Mr. President, included in the $\1/2\ trillion of new taxes in the health care reform law is a tax hike of $20 billion on medical devices. That is right. This new law imposes a $20 billion excise tax, a tax of 2.3 percent, on lifesaving medical devices. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation both confirmed that these excise taxes will not be borne by the medical device industry--will not be borne by the medical device industry. Instead, the tax will be passed on to patients in the form of higher prices and higher insurance premiums. Recognizing that this tax, as initially proposed, was unpopular-- because as written it would have increased taxes on medical devices such as eyeglasses and hearing aids--the bill was modified to exclude these and other items that are generally purchased by the general public at retail for individual use. Yet even with these exemptions, patients still bear the burden of this new tax. Here are just a few examples of the people who will be hit by this new tax and the types of devices that will be taxed.…”