Coats, Donnelly Take Aim at Medical Device Tax
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana's two U.S. Senators are joining other legislators on proposed legislation designed to repeal an excise tax affecting more than 150 medical device manufacturers in the state. Dan Coats (R-IN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and eight other senators are co-sponsoring the Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act, which Coats says would eliminate a tax that is preventing economic growth and has halted plant expansions. January 13, 2015
News Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today joined with a bipartisan group of 10 senators to introduce the Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act (S. 149). The bill would repeal the medical device tax implemented as part of Obamacare.
“This tax is costing jobs and preventing new economic growth in Indiana,” said Coats. “Since its implementation, the tax has hurt Hoosier employers and resulted in canceled plant expansions. Rather than encourage medical innovation for health care consumers, it is limiting research and development of life-enhancing and lifesaving devices. Hoosiers want this misguided policy fixed, and I am committed to playing a leading role in the bipartisan effort to eliminate this tax.”
“The Indiana Medical Device Manufacturers Council supports and appreciates Senator Coats' decision to be an original co-sponsor of the bill to repeal the medical device excise tax,” said Kathy Heuer, Executive Director of the Indiana Medical Device Manufacturing Council. “With over 155 medical device companies located in Indiana and many more contract manufacturers supporting those companies affected by this tax, Senator Coats' efforts will help protect this vibrant industry and over 20,000 jobs here in Indiana.”
Under the Obamacare law, manufacturers of medical devices are required to pay a 2.3 percent excise tax on products ranging from surgical tools to bed pans. The tax, which took effect in January 2013, is hurting innovation, job creation and the overall delivery of quality patient care. A study by the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) found that the tax impacted approximately 33,000 American jobs in its first year, either through layoffs or forgone jobs that would have been created.
Members of the medical device community reiterated their support for repeal in a letter today signed by nearly 1,000 corporations and associations.
Joining Senator Coats in introducing the Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act today were Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Bob Casey (R-Pa.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
Source: The Office of U.S. Senator Dan Coats