Congressmen Introduce Bill to Repeal Medical Device Excise Tax

BNA reported yesterday that a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act's 2.3 percent medical device excise tax.
 
The group of 175 co-sponsors of the proposed Protect Medical Innovation Act (H.R. 523) was led by Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.); the bill text was not available. The House  passed a similar version of the bill in June 2012, but was killed in the Senate.
 
Bipartisan companion legislation soon will be introduced in the Senate.
 
“Placing a new tax on the backs of U.S. medical innovators and entrepreneurs who employ more than 400,000 Americans is not a prescription for economic growth or job creation,” Paulsen said in a Feb. 6 statement. “In fact, companies have already laid off thousands of employees as a result of this onerous new tax, and more jobs will be lost now that this tax is in effect. It's not only costing our country jobs and deterring innovation, but more importantly, it will reduce patient access to cutting edge medical products and treatments that save lives.”

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