Sally Pipes writes at Investors Business Daily:Senate Bill Would Tax Those Who Heal
Baucus' overhaul would be partially funded by new fees on the health care industry. Starting next year, medical device makers would be forced to pony up $4 billion annually to the federal government. Biopharmaceutical firms would be on the hook for $2.3 billion each year. Clinical labs would have to shell out $750 million a year. All this in addition to the taxes they already pay.
Cutting Drug R&D
To put this in perspective, it takes $1.3 billion, on average, to research, develop and bring a new drug to market. So the bill would siphon away money that could otherwise have launched two new medicines.
With less money for research, cutting-edge drugs already in the pipeline undoubtedly will take longer to get to market. And whole lines of research aimed at curing diseases that currently lack treatments could be delayed or even canceled.
No comments:
Post a Comment