06/11/12 Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) Friday called for a Senate vote on legislation passed by the House of Representatives that would repeal the 2.3 percent tax imposed on medical device manufacturers under Obamacare:
“It is extremely important to Indiana’s economy that this tax is repealed before it goes into effect,” said Coats. “Taxing the medical device industry will cost Hoosier jobs, increase health care costs and stifle medical innovation. I commend the House for taking the right step and voting to repeal this tax, and I urge Senate leadership to allow a vote on this important legislation. With our economy in a fragile position, we must support job creators and workers, not single out successful industries to pay for political priorities.”
The House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation today by a 270-146 margin that would repeal the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices – ranging from surgical tools to bed pans – included in the health care law passed in 2010. Senator Coats is a co-sponsor of Senate legislation, the Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act (S.17), that would immediately repeal the tax.
Indiana is one of the world leaders in the development of medical technologies that enhance and save the lives of Hoosiers and patients around the world. Indiana is home to more than 300 FDA-registered medical device manufacturers, employing 20,000 Hoosiers directly and another 28,000 indirectly. These jobs pay, on average, 56 percent higher wages than the state wage rate in Indiana.
A 2011 study released by the Advanced Medical Technology Association analyzed the potential effect of the health care law’s device tax on employment in the medical device industry. According to this report, an estimated 2,124 Hoosiers would lose their jobs and the tax likely will result in American manufacturers shutting down plants in the U.S. and replacing them with plants in other countries.
