Medical Device Tax Threatens Jobs, Innovation

Logically enough, if you tax something, you get less of it

Obamacare has been the dog that didn't bark in this campaign. Given some of the damaging ideas in the law, that's a surprise. Among the worst is medical device tax, which kicks in next year. The reticence to fight about the tax is odd: It already is destroying job opportunities, and it soon will start blocking medical developments that could improve or even save many lives.

The president's health law imposes a 2.3% tax on all medical device sales. This doesn't sound like much, but that's misleading. The tax is not on profits, but on gross (total) receipts. For smaller device manufacturers with narrow profit margins, the tax could actually exceed their profits, pushing them into the red. Such is the case with companies known as ConMed (with possible job losses in swing states Colorado and Florida), Symmetry Medical (job centers in swing states Michigan and New Hampshire), and ultrasound pioneer Sinosite.