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http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20100325beware_the_jobs_killer_companies_threaten_to_quit_state_over_new_tax_on_medical_devices/srvc=home&position=0

Companies threaten to quit state over new tax on medical devices

A dire warning from Bay State medical-device companies that a new sales tax in the federal health-care law could force their plants - and thousands of jobs - out of the country has rattled Gov. Deval Patrick, a staunch backer of the law and pal President Obama.

“This bill is a jobs killer,” said Ernie Whiton, chief financial officer of Chelmsford’s Zoll Medical Corp., which employs about 650 people in Massachusetts. Many of those employees work in Zoll’s local manufacturing facility making heart defibrillators.

“We could be forced to (move) manufacturing overseas if we can’t pass along these costs to our customers,” said Whiton.

Under the legislation signed by Obama, medical-device companies would be slapped with a sales tax of about 2.9 percent to raise about $2.2billion a year to pay for the health-care overhaul. Under a companion“reconciliation” bill now being debated in the Senate, the tax is setat 2.3 percent and would start Jan. 1, 2013.