House Proposes 5-Year Extension of Medical Device Excise Tax Suspension

The House Committee on Ways and Means has introduced a bill that would extend the temporary suspension on the Affordable Care Act’s medical device tax by five more years.

If adopted, Rep. Erik Paulsen’s (R-Mo.) legislation, H.R. 4617, would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 section regarding the temporary moratorium on the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax by replacing “2017” with “2022” and become effective after Dec. 31, 2017.

The tax went into effect in 2013, but in the 114th Congress Paulsen helped pass a two-year suspension through Jan. 1, 2018 under the Consolidate Appropriations Act of 2016,

Industry trade association AvadMed was quick to put out a statement after the 5-year extension was proposed in the House as it has been adamantly urging a full repeal of the tax, citing hindered innovation, deterred job creation, among other issues.

AvadMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker applauded the proposed extension as “an important first step to provide medical technology innovators with confidence that this tax will not go back into effect” and urged Congress to adopt it “immediately.”