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D4PC: A two time supporter of the Obama healthcare law, former Democrat Senator Evan Bayh gives his new opinion of the unintended consequence of the ACA's tax on the medical device indusry.

The Supreme Court decision in June upholding the Affordable Care Act leaves in place a tax on medical devices that threatens thousands of American jobs and our global competitiveness. It will also stifle critical medical innovation in the industry that gave us defibrillators, pacemakers, artificial joints, stents, chemotherapy delivery systems and almost every device we depend on to save lives.

The 2.3% tax will be charged to manufacturers on each sale and takes effect in January. Many U.S. device companies, in response, have already announced layoffs, canceled plans for domestic expansion and slashed research-and-development budgets.

Given the fragile state of the U.S. economy, Congress must move quickly to redress the harm from this tax before it becomes irreversible.