U.S. Lawmakers Urge Colleagues to Support Permanent Device Tax Repeal

In a “Dear Colleague” letter last week, a bipartisan group of congressional leaders urged the House to permanently repeal the 2.3 percent medical device tax.

The tax, introduced in the Affordable Care Act in 2010, was in effect from 2013 to 2015, followed by two-year pauses passed in both 2016 and 2018. Without congressional intervention this year, it will take effect in 2020.

In the “Dear Colleague” letter, members including Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) called on fellow members to support or co-sponsor the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2019, introduced by Kind, which would permanently repeal the tax.