I ask each of you to oppose the Baucus Health Care Bill. The tax on medical device makers would absolutely cripple our county, Kosciusko, and surrounding counties, Elkhart and St. Joseph, that derive most of their jobs and funds from that industry.
Warsaw, Ind., is currently the home of several orthopaedic world headquarters - DePuy, Zimmer and Biomet. In addition, a number of other orthopaedic and orthopaedic-related companies are located in Kosciusko County. The proposed tax would devastate the economy in this area.
Unemployment is already such a serious problem in this area, that President Obama has made several highly-publicized trips to this area in the past year. Presently, it is 11.6 percent for Kosciusko County, 16 percent for Elkhart County and 11 percent for St. Joseph County. Elkhart County is the county with the highest unemployment rate in Indiana with Kosciusko and St. Joseph following close behind. My family and I have been personally affected by the unemployment situation. In fact, my husband has been laid off since last December. This area and the state of Indiana, as a whole, can not afford more unemployment.
This bill would be detrimental not only to the orthopaedic industry in Indiana but the nation as well. The Baucus Health Care Reform Plan, proposed by Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, with its proposed taxes to the medical device makers would ultimately force cuts to research and development and probably manufacturing.
I plead with each of you to oppose this bill for the sake of our area and state. Party affiliation is irrelevant at this time. We must work together to keep this industry in the state of Indiana.
In the past year, Memphis, Tenn., has made numerous overtures to lure the orthopaedic industry away from Indiana. We must not let that happen.
