Hatch, Toomey Applaud Inclusion of Medical Device Tax Repeal in Senate Republican Budget

WASHINGTON – Today, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, (R-Pa.), a member of the Committee, praised the inclusion of the medical device tax repeal in the Senate Republican budget.

Under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 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 took effect in January 2013.  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.

“Obamacare’s onerous medical device tax has harmed healthcare innovation, stifled job creation, and burdened the delivery of quality patient care,” Hatch said.  “Efforts to repeal this tax have received overwhelming bipartisan support in the past, and I couldn’t be more pleased Chairman Enzi has included the repeal of this disastrous tax in his budget.  It is time to end this tax so that more resources can be devoted to healthcare innovation – not to the coffers of Obamacare.”

Toomey joined Hatch in leading a bipartisan group of senators to introduce legislation to repeal the medical device tax in both the 113^th and 114^th Congresses. In 2013, Toomey cosponsored a bipartisan Hatch amendment to the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Resolution that would repeal the tax.  The amendment passed by a vote of 79 to 20.

"The medical device tax must be repealed because it is causing Pennsylvania employers to hold back on expansion plans and the addition of good paying jobs. This tax not only discourages economic growth and drives up medical bills, but it also hurts the patients who stand to benefit the most from American innovation and ingenuity," said Toomey.

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