ObamaCare levies a $20 billion tax on medical device companies, which will reduce incentives for innovation and raise the cost of care. It will likely be one of the first targets for repeal.

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“The health-care overhaul has taken some of the flex out of flexible spending accounts, which let workers pay medical expenses with pretax dollars. Starting in January, you’ll no longer be able to use your FSA for over-the-counter drugs and medicines unless you have a doctor’s prescription. Experts agree that the new rules will likely discourage people from tapping their FSAs for routine purchases of aspirin, vitamins, cough medicine and other drugstore essentials.”

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“Congress must repeal the new law. Congress cannot build sound market-based health care reform on the PPACA foundation, which is utterly incompatible with a health care system based on consumer choice and free markets.”

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“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates that it will take the food service industry 14 million additional hours each year to comply with a new regulation that mandates chain restaurants and vending machine operators label the products they sell with a calorie count in a place visible to the consumer.”

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“A leading House Democrat said this week that the party’s signature healthcare reform law was largely the reason the Democrats were trounced in the midterms.”

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“Some Republicans may be willing to take their symbolic victory in the House and call it a day. They shouldn’t. There are many things they can do short of repeal that can begin the step-by-step dismantling of ObamaCare.”

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Andy Griffith is running ads paid for the government to promote the benefits of ObamaCare for Medicare beneficiaries. “Hate to quarrel with a television legend, but we have two problems. First, there’s the curious timing of the ad. The Medicare changes don’t fully kick in until 2014, but the government spent about $3 million to run the ad in October alone, in the heart of the midterm campaign, Politico reported.”

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“Among respondents in the 100 most targeted House districts, 51 percent called their vote a message of opposition to the law, while just one in five said it was a sign of support for it. A majority of independent voters, a voting bloc that Republicans won by a whopping 18 points, also said in the McInturff survey that their vote was in opposition to the law.”

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The state of Texas is considering ending their Medicaid program entirely rather than dealing with new Medicaid costs from ObamaCare. The law’s “maintenance of effort” provisions prevent Texas from modifying eligibility requirements or implementing most other cost-saving measures. This could require new federal spending to offset the reduction.

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ObamaCare is paid for partly with new taxes on health firms, especially medical device manufacturers and drug companies. These taxes will discourage medical innovation and drive up the cost of care.

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