According to an article in DMV360, experts are predicting the tax costs associated with medical equipment will impact the cost of veterinary care. Here is an excerpt from the article:
“Veterinarians may notice an increase in the cost of some medical devices in 2013. A provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, includes a 2.3 percent tax on the sale of medical devices by the manufacturer or importer.
Although veterinary healthcare is not addressed in the Affordable Care Act, equipment intended for human use but also used in veterinary medicine–such as IV fluid pumps, endoscopes and cardiac monitors–will be taxed. Devices sold solely for use in veterinary medicine are not subject to the new tax.
“For example, if a veterinarian buys an endoscope that is approved and labeled for use in human patients for use in his/her veterinary practice, then the endoscope purchase will be taxed,” states a release on the new tax by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). “However, if the device is approved and labeled for use exclusively for veterinary medicine (and is labeled as such), then it will not be taxed.””
Although the impact to veterinary delivery costs is not expected to be significant, the article does go on to show other negative impacts to the economy.
Here is a link to the original article: Obamacare Reaches Veterinary Medicine