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Medical device tax: House Ways & Means schedules markup for repeal bill

By Brad Perriello

The powerful Ways & Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to convene a markup session for 1 of the bills circulating on Capitol Hill that would do away with the medical device tax.

The 2.3% levy on U.S. sales of prescribed medical devices was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act and went into effect at the beginning of 2013. It’s forecast to raise between $20 billion and $30 billion over 10 years.

The “Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2015,” or H.R. 160, sponsored by longtime medical device industry champion Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), is 1 of several bills that would do away with the tax. The House Ways & Means Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill tomorrow morning, along with a slate of other healthcare-related measures.

There are several bills afoot in both the Senate and House that would do away with the tax, in addition to Paulsen’s bill, which has 281 co-sponsors including 40 Democrats. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is the sponsor of the Senate’s companion bill for repealing the medical device tax, S. 149 or the “Medical Device Access & Innovation Protection Act.” The measure has 36 co-sponsors, including 5 Democrats.

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