siemens heathcare, a manufacturer of medical equipment, wants to repeal the excise tax it pays on every machine it sells. the company says healthcare reform is costing it money for research and development. under obamacare, siemens and every other manufacturer of medical equipment such as mri machines has had to pay a 2.3% excise tax on each one sold. collectively, it's totaled more than $450 million since january first - money, the companies say, that cuts into their budgets for research and development. "we see this as a challenge to our business, impacting our ability to invest in r&d dollars." the medical technology industry says it's also a jobs issue - nearly two million people work in the medical technology industry. although most analysts say it's more about how much of what's made goes to the portfolios of siemens shareholders and how much is reinvested in r&d? "they're trying to return the maximum profit to their shareholders. that's what their job is, right?" in 2011, siemens healthcare reported overall revenue of $16.3 billion. it spend $1.56 billion in r&d. "over the last y