Despite lobbying from the medical device industry, impeachment proceedings and a busy year-end legislative agenda seem to be stalling a repeal of the medical device tax, according to MedTech Dive.
The tax, which puts a 2.3 percent levy on most medical devices sold in the U.S., is set to go back into effect on Jan.1 after being suspended since 2015. The medical device industry has been fighting for a permanent repeal of the tax for years, arguing that it fails to lower healthcare costs for consumers while increasing costs for the industry.
House Republican Minority Whip Steve Scalise has over the last several weeks tried to attach the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2019 — a bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., that would permanently repeal the tax — to other pieces of legislation, according to MedTech Dive.
Advanced Medical Technology Association, a lobbying group that represents 97 percent of the country's medical devicemakers, is reportedly organizing a group of CEOs to go to Capitol Hill Dec. 12 to try to persuade lawmakers to include Mr. Kind's bill in a year-end budget package.
But AdvaMed Chief Advocacy Officer Greg Crist told MedTech Dive that impeachment is a "major wild card" and is "crowding out a lot of competing priorities."
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