Obamacare: Dental braces to be taxed
As part of the plan to pay for Obamacare a medical device tax was inserted into the legislation, but of course nobody wanted to actually define what constituted a medical device before the 2010 and 2012 elections because in all likelihood it would mean that Americans would be paying higher prices on these items and Barack Obama didn’t want to be seen as breaking his promise that middle class Americans would not see their taxes go up one dime.
Now here we are after the 2012 election and we are starting to learn what types of devices will be taxed and, as this article reports, dental braces are now considered a medical device and will be subjected to the Obamacare tax.
Technically the device manufacturer is paying the tax, however the cost will be passed on down to the consumer meaning higher prices for everyone whose child (or children) need braces.
When you couple the higher prices people will be paying under Obamacare with the fact that companies are beginning to either layoff current employees, freeze the hiring of new employees, or cutting the hours of employees to avoid the Obamacare mandate and we can see what a disaster this legislation is turning into–and it was all conveniently delayed until after Barack Obama ran for reelection.
America's Watchtower 
I can see the point of some angst here, but how is this different than any other sales tax on merchandise offered for sale? Great blog, however – – keep up the good work.
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Thanks for the compliment. It is basically a sales tax, you are right about that but I was trying to point out that this is a tax which was hidden until after the election because Barack Obama promised not to raise ANY taxes on the middle class.
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That kind of a promise from a politician is most likely BS from the git go and I think it applies to all who feel the urge to put on the public mantle.
I cannot conceive of a scenario in which such a promise can ever be kept no matter who makes it, can you?
If you follow fact checkers, you will discover there are thousands of instances where all politicians regardless of who they are have had their “pants on fire” moments – – and lots of them.
A few flakes of cow manure never hurt the milk all that much now did it?
Yes – – you have a really GREAT blog there and I am impressed enough that I intend to use some of it as resources for ideas from time to time.
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This is true John and I always knew Obama’s promises were BS, just like most other politician’s, but there are many people who voted for Obama because they believed what he was saying and I consider it part of my duty to show Obama is no better than any other politician at every chance I get.
Thanks again for another compliment and feel free to use my content ever when you disagree with me!
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There are still many things untaxed that we must have or use. I’m quite sure the boys at 1600 are looking at them. I would suggest they put government controlled counters on our toilets to see how may times we flush and thereby be able to tax our $hit! Far fetched you say, not really! Just think of all the tax money they could raise in Texas where Chili is a popular dish.
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Ron, you know what is untaxed the most? The wealthy……. You know, the folks our government officials work for.
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This is only the beginning Ron as the parameters are still being drawn up. I expect as it comes to pass that the feds need more money for Obamacare that the list of taxable medical devices will expand.
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Ron, a bit off subject here, but I wanted to comment on the “toilet issue”, if I may….I was reading an artice not only on the smart meters for electrical usage, but the new meters to get water usage…both use signals that send information back to the base unit every 3-5 seconds. However, the water usage will show if we are home, when we are home and if we get up and flush that 1.4 or 1.6 gallons in the toilet and at what time. Now, why do they need to know that and will that info if hacked tell thiefs if and when we are home? It just amazes me at how much information they need to know about what we do in our houses.
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Well, I will repeat myself here about OUR medlcal coverage for retirees…we were paying $50 per month, it will jump now to $495, almost a 1,000% increase. I think we are in for some BIG suprises as things unfold. Of course they waited til after the election for this to start, even totally clueless people could understand this is not what we were told it would be. What about all those knee and hip replacements that alot of seniors get? Guess they will be taking pain killers in their place, except in New York, where Bloomberg is rationing those now, as well. What a world we live in, it is going to be interesting to see what else comes out of this mess….thank you Obama!!!!
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I’m sure artificial parts such as limbs and knees will be taxed as well, I suppose cutting down on the people who can afford these surgeries is part of how they intend to bring down the costs of healthcare. Less people getting the procedures means less cost. Obama said it might be better for granny to take a pain pill, I just hope granny doesn’t live in New York.
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It’s simple, really. They have to find a way to pay for the monstrosity that is Obamacare. Their creativity of finding new items to tax, with which to raise more revenue, never ceases to amaze me.
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I doubt they care about the middle class getting coverage, somehow we will cut out other things in order to pay for our coverage. The main ones they want covered are the ones on the Government take, you know the “voters” that put this man (term used lightly) back in office. We are the ones that will make sure those people get well taken care of while we suffer. To think there were so many people that believed the lies still amazes me. Guess the middle class will continue until we run out of money……
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Lou, you are right. The poor get “help”, the wealthy can pay cash if they need to, and our “working folks” that make good money get screwed. Our whole “sick care” for profit system sucks from top to bottom.
Imagine if we had both parties doing all the could to get the best health care for every American for the best price….. Yeah right. Not when it can be a “Waterloo” issue, and American corpses can be used for politics on both sides.
My wife went to South America a couple years ago. The drops she uses for her eyes cost ten times as much here as they do there. Same bottle, same medicine. We are actually subsidizing the medical care of other countries by overpaying drug companies here. Isn’t that swell!
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Betrayed, it is true that the drug companies make tons of money but at the same time I think you are neglecting to look at the jobs these companies create and the money they put back into the economy through the jobs created.
I work for a small company which builds electrical control panels and we do quite a bit of work for drug companies. We have built the control cabinets and integrated them into the systems which make the drugs and we are at the lower end of the line, meaning we are the first step in what ends up being a product producing line.
Aside from the high tech research and development jobs as well as the people who are paid very well to maintain and operate these systems, these companies employ ordinary Americans such as welders, pipe fitters, assemblers, electricians, builders, programmers, integrators, personnel people, shippers, receivers, truck drivers and the list goes on and on. Some of these are union jobs and some are not, but I would say that if you compare the money Americans make to the money the people in South America make in this field you may find another reason as to why the prices are higher in this country.
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They are going to keep coming after us Larry, that much is certain because it is the only way they can even begin to pay for this.
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Paraphrasing Ho Chi Minh: those who benefit most from repression are those fighting for freedom. So all you knuckleheads who have no appreciation for this once great country now sinking into the socialist muck enjoy the incrementally approaching repression as it consumes you and your evaporating unappreciated freedoms.
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Could not have said it better, Peter!
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Its almost February again and Feldman Orthodontics Tampa is as excited as everybody for another meaningful month. We are planning a very exciting program this year’s Children’s Dental Health Month and we can’t wait for it.
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I feel bad for my patients being secretly taxed for this in the past years.
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