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Rep. Jenkins Co-Authored Medical Device Tax Repeal Act Passes House with Strong Bi-Partisan Support
6/7/2012WASHINGTON – Today, H.R. 436, the Medical Device Tax Repeal Act, which Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins co-authored, passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support 270 to 146 and cleared another hurdle to becoming law. It is now on its way to the Senate.
Congresswoman Jenkins released the following statement after her legislation passed out of the House:
“The American public has known for some time now the President’s health care law is full of hazards which increase the cost of health care on average Americans households. At work, the President’s health care law is squeezing small businesses and making it harder to invest in jobs and the economy. While we wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the entire health care overhaul, members of the House of Representatives are working to legislatively fix the pox that has become the current health code.
I authored H.R. 5842, the Restoring Access to Medication Act, which received bi-partisan support during its passage out of the House Ways and Means Committee. I was subsequently attached to H.R. 436, the Medical Device Tax Repeal Act. My section repeals the current requirement for Americans using medical savings accounts to have a doctor’s prescription to buy standard over-the-counter (OTC) medications such as Advil or cough syrup. The current restrictions are burdensome and unnecessary.
With broad support, I have championed this over-the-counter drug restriction repeal because it takes a common-sense solution to a problem that should not exist and I am pleased with its passage today. I look forward to the Senate joining the House in passing common-sense legislation that benefits Americans in all corners of our country”, Jenkins said.
This legislation which would repeal section 9003 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as Obamacare, and restores the ability of those participating in a medical savings account, such as a Flexible Savings Account (FSA), Health Savings Account (HSA), or other similar types of medical savings account, to use these funds to purchase over-the-counter medications.
Under current law, plan participants may no longer use funds from these accounts to purchase OTC medications, unless they have a prescription for the medication.
Nearly 50 million Americans participate in FSAs and other health savings accounts. The accounts allow individuals to set aside their own money each year on a pre-tax basis to pay for health care expenses, such as co-payments, and other health care expenses not covered by insurance, prescriptions or over-the-counter medications.
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