Tucked in the bill’s 2,700 pages are a number of provisions that, as they go into effect beginning in 2014, will be a disaster for the economy of Virginia and for the American health care system.

One such provision is the special excise tax Obamacare imposes on medical-device manufacturers. The manufacture of medical devices is one of the most dynamic sectors of our economy. A range of small and large companies has been one of the major engines of progress in the development of less expensive and more effective means of medical treatment. We owe to those device manufacturers impressive technological advances in everything from the development of noninvasive surgical techniques to improved dialysis machines that vastly improve the quality of life of patients suffering from kidney failure.

Obamacare will bring all this progress to a grinding halt.