June 22nd, 2010 
My Health
Senator Sam Brownback conducts a live telephone townhall meeting with the people of the first congressional district of Kansas. Senator Brownback discusses the status of the health care bill in Congress, as well as manufacturing and energy in Kansas.
Posted in News 
Tags: Audio, Brownback, care, Energy, health, jobs, meeting, TeleTownhall 
1 Comment » June 5th, 2010 My Health
Washington, DC If the customer doesnt like what youre selling and they cant afford the product, its time to find something they want and can afford. That is the case with health care reform, said US Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., in a speech on the Senate floor today while referring to the $2.5 trillion Reid health care bill. The voices of August are still out there and they know this bill is more of the same. It is time to listen to our customers and find an alternative they want and can afford, said Enzi. As a former small business owner, I learned in my shoe stores that if the customer doesnt like it – dont try a new sales pitch – find a new shoe. Enzi also spoke with a group of Republicans at a news conference Friday about the flaws of the Reid health care bill and the increased taxes it calls for. Under this flawed bill, if you take a prescription drug, you will pay a new tax. If you use any medical devices or equipment, from walkers to wheelchairs, you will pay a new tax. If you do not have health insurance, you will pay a new tax. If you do have health insurance, you will also pay a new tax. And if the government decides your health insurance is too expensive, there will be a new tax for that as well. The problem with our current health care system is not that we dont pay enough taxes. Americans actually want to lower their health care costs, and not just pay more taxes to the federal government. All of these taxes will only increase costs, making health care even more …
May 27th, 2010 My Health
During the July 16th Ways and Means Committee Markup of HR 3200 (Speaker Pelosis health care bill), Congressman Davis offered an amendment to protect small businesses from punitive tax burdens in the bill. HR 3200 requires employers to either offer plans that meet government mandates or pay an 8% tax on payroll. In the underlying bill, if an employee rejects the employer provided plan, for any reason, the employer still must pay an 8% tax on the value of that employees wages to the Health Information Exchange. Congressman Davis amendment would have eliminated this 8% tax if the employer offers a plan meeting the government mandates. The amendment was defeated, 17-24.
March 18th, 2010 My Health Im in college and want a career in fitness/health (personal trainer) but want something that pays better than your regular 24 hour fitness training job. I just dont know where to start or what courses to take to be in this type of work and still get paid well.
Posted in Fitness Tags: College, Courses, good, health/fitness/nutrition, jobs, qualify, Some, Take 1 Comment » March 16th, 2010 My Health
A new tax on medical device manufacturers that is in the U.S. Senate’s health insurance reform bill may force Elyria-based Invacare Corp., which employs 1,300 people in Northeast Ohio, to shift jobs to China or Mexico to remain in business.
Ohio GOP Sen. George Voinovich said the taxes Invacare would pay under the bill would exceed 100 percent of the company’s domestic earnings and research and development budget and that the company may send jobs abroad if the tax is implemented.
“It has nothing to do with their profitability,” Voinovich said in a Monday night Senate floor speech that attacked the tax proposal. “They say: ‘You are this business. You have a percentage of it, and we are going to lay the tax right on your back.’ Ohio cannot afford to lose these jobs to another country at any time, but certainly not right now in this struggling economy.”
The Senate version of the health care bill imposes a yearly sales-based fee on medical device manufacturers would raise $2 billion nationwide each year, beginning in 2011, to help pay the cost of providing more people with insurance. The figure would rise to $3 billion in 2017.
The fee would be allotted across the industry according to market share and would not be tax deductible. Manufacturers with sales of $5 million or less would be exempt, and those with less than $25 million in sales would pay a reduced rate. The health care bill approved by the House of Representatives would set a smaller tax on medical device makers.
Voinovich hopes the provision will be reduced or removed when negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives meet to hammer out a compromise between their separate bills, an aide said.
Invacare, which makes power wheelchairs, oxygen delivery devices and other medical equipment, has $1.6 billion in worldwide sales and sells its products in 80 countries. It lost $6.4 million on U.S. sales in 2008 and spent $15 million to $17 million that year on research and development, says its chairman and CEO Mal Mixon. He said the company’s $38.6 million earnings in 2008 were all made abroad, and the company employs 6,100 people worldwide.
Mixon said the company would pay a “substantial” amount in taxes if the bill becomes law, but he wouldn’t release an exact figure. He said Invacare may have to shift jobs to China or Mexico, lay off workers, or reduce employee benefits to pay the tab. The company won’t be able to pass many extra costs to customers, he said, because most of its sales are through Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration, which have fixed reimbursement rates.
“In the haste to get something passed, a lot of unintended consequences will come out of this bill,” said Mixon, who has expressed his frustration to Ohio members of Congress including Voinovich and Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who has played an active role in drafting the health reform legislation. “All I can tell you is, if the tax passes, and we don’t know what is finally going to be there, we will take specific actions to somehow pay for the tax.”
Brown and nine other Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Senate leaders in October that expressed concern about how the tax — then slated to be $4 billion each year — would affect medical device makers. Brown is still concerned about the provision and will continue to speak with Ohio device manufacturers and distributors to see how he can be most helpful, a spokeswoman said.
“A tax of such magnitude will threaten the existence of some manufacturers, would likely lead to significant job reductions by others, and will certainly curtail investment in innovation,” the letter said.
Senate leaders reduced the proposed tax, but medical device makers still aren’t happy. The Medical Device Manufacturers Association trade group maintains it will harm patient care and weaken the United States’ position as a global leader in medical device innovation.
“There can be little doubt – the proposed tax will have a cascading effect upon innovation, access to technology and employment in the industry,” said Mark Leahey, the trade group’s president and CEO.
