A growing bipartisan cadre of Congressional lawmakers is behind an effort to repeal a component of the Affordable Care Act they say will adversely impact manufacturers of heart valves, cardiac defibrillators, knee implants and other medical devices.
Lawmakers say that under the medical device act, which levies a 2.3 percent tax on the medical device industry, manufacturers will have to lay off workers and scale back on growth and innovation in order to meet millions of dollars in rising costs.
The tax, which went into effect in January, is levied on revenues, not profits, and has become the latest target on
“If you were looking for a textbook example of a blundering government enacting a law that raises health care costs, destroys jobs, curtails innovation and hurts patient care – you’d come up with the medical device tax,” said U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, of the 15th congressional district.
Dent was among the growing number of Washington lawmakers who have introduced legislation to repeal the act.
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