Erik Paulsen: “Today we are taking a very important step to lift the burden of the Affordable Care Act off of the backs of the American…”

“Today we are taking a very important step to lift the burden of the Affordable Care Act off of the backs of the American people. A key component of this is repealing the burdensome mandates and tax increases that were imposed to help fund this failed law. This includes the medical device tax, a senseless policy that placed an excise tax on lifesaving medical technology. What did this achieve? A loss of 30,000 high-paying American jobs, less research and development, canceled projects, and postponed expansions. Most importantly, it hurt patients. There is good news. Just a few years ago, in 2015, we came together on a bipartisan basis and suspended the tax for 2 years. We are seeing positive results. Companies are now hiring again, we have increased research and development, and we have new investments in facilities coming online. We need to permanently repeal this onerous tax or it is going to start up again. Voting ``yes'' today means permanent repeal of the medical device tax. Mr. Speaker, I am also encouraged to see several provisions I have authored to enhance and expand the use of health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts that are included in this legislation today. HSAs and FSAs are now more popular than ever and used by 20 million Americans.…”