[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 3 (Thursday, January 8, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HOW OBAMACARE AFFECTS CARDIACASSIST

  (Mr. ROTHFUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHFUS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to tell a story about lost 
opportunity.
  Pennsylvania is the country's fourth highest producer of medical 
devices. One company in my district, CardiacAssist, makes devices that 
treat heart failure and employs over 40 people.
  CardiacAssist's devices improve quality of life, and they 
significantly reduce the cost of care for cardiac patients. The 
company's mission is to develop products that are both easier to use 
and less expensive to make, but ObamaCare's onerous medical device tax 
is stifling growth at CardiacAssist.
  Since this $30 billion tax took effect, CardiacAssist has backed off 
from hiring five new employees to just one. It has also reduced its 
research and development efforts.
  When we tax the very innovation that is the solution to the cost 
crisis in this country, it directly affects how quickly CardiacAssist 
gets its affordable therapies out to the world. Sadly, it also costs 
jobs and, in this case, four jobs at a company trying to grow in 
western Pennsylvania.
  The Protect Medical Innovation Act repeals this tax and allows 
companies like CardiacAssist to get back to growing and creating jobs. 
I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation and look forward to its 
passage.

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