Study: Obamacare Tax Could Cost 43,000 Jobs

A new study by economists Diana Furchtgott-Roth and Harold Furchtgott-Roth shows that one provision of Obamacare, a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers, could cause significant job losses—over 43,000, according to the report—in the industry. The whole report can be read here, but here are some of the study’s major findings (emphasis added):

• In 2009, the medical device industry provided well-paying jobs to more than 409,000 employees, who earned more than $33 billion dollars in labor compensation. 

• Under reasonable assumptions, the tax could result in job losses in excess of 43,000 and employment compensation losses in excess of $3.5 billion.  

• The tax will also especially harm states with large employment in the medical device industry including California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin....

• Under the tax, U.S. manufacturers will be more likely to close plants in the United States and replace them with plants in foreign countries.