(1) Blackmail—Obamacare harmed them, but big Pharma was told by Democrats that if they didn’t support it the Democrats would pass something that harmed them even more. The medical device industry didn’t support Obamacare and as a result they got hit with a special tax in the final bill.
(2) Reduced competition—Obamacare makes it harder for other firms to enter the pharmaceutical industry.
As far as the medical device tax goes, I agree that it’s worth repealing it.
In total it’s however zero sum for spending on healthcare. The tax pays for tax rabates for health insurance. Money payed into the health insurance system gets spend on medicial expenditures.
Two possible reasons:
(1) Blackmail—Obamacare harmed them, but big Pharma was told by Democrats that if they didn’t support it the Democrats would pass something that harmed them even more. The medical device industry didn’t support Obamacare and as a result they got hit with a special tax in the final bill.
(2) Reduced competition—Obamacare makes it harder for other firms to enter the pharmaceutical industry.
As far as the medical device tax goes, I agree that it’s worth repealing it.
In total it’s however zero sum for spending on healthcare. The tax pays for tax rabates for health insurance. Money payed into the health insurance system gets spend on medicial expenditures.
Note: spending on healthcare =/= improvements in health
I don’t claim it does.