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Representative Mike Kelly Announces Co-Sponsorship of Law to Repeal Medical Device Tax

February 24, 2011

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 

                                       Contact: Julia Thornton

February 24, 2011                                    

                                                     202-225-5406

 

Representative Mike Kelly Announces Co-Sponsorship of Law to Repeal Medical Device Tax

The 2.3 percent sales tax would hurt medical device industry, cost jobs

 

Washington, D.C.—Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) held a press conference today to announce his co-sponsorship of the Save Our Medical Devices Act of 2011. The Act, sponsored by Representative Jim Gerlach (PA-06), would repeal the 2.3 percent tax imposed on medical devices as part of last year’s health care overhaul. The tax would apply to the sale of a medical device by a manufacturer, producer, or importer, and was instituted to help pay for the cost of health care reform.

 

“Robbing Peter to pay Paul; that’s what this medical device tax is all about,” said Kelly. “In order to help pay for the $2.6 trillion health care bill, we’re going to levy a tax on an industry that is responsible for nearly 2,000,000 American jobs, is one of the only net-trade exporters in the U.S., and manufactures devices that save and improve lives. That makes no sense to me at all, especially as our country faces record-high unemployment and debt.”

 

In addition to Rep. Kelly, the Save Our Medical Devices Act is co-sponsored by seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Pennsylvania delegation, including Reps. Altmire (PA-04), Dent (PA-15), Holden (PA-17), Marino (PA-10), Pitts (PA-16), Platts (PA-19), and Thompson (PA-16). Pennsylvania is home to 600 employers in the biotech, life-sciences and medical manufacturing sector, employing approximately 22,000 workers throughout the Commonwealth.

 

According to the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA), the medical device tax will adversely impact innovation and disproportionately harm small businesses that develop the majority of cutting edge technologies used to improve patient care. MDMA predicts that the tax will reduce research and development, eliminate jobs, and move manufacturing outside of the United States to offset the impact of the tax. Ultimately, suppliers and consumers will be affected by the tax when it leaves them with fewer choices and higher costs. 

 

Under current legislation, the medical device tax will take effect in 2013. Taxable devices include those defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and would exclude eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, and any other devices that the general public typically buys at retail for individual use.