Over a ten year period, $20 billion is expected to be generated by a new excise tax on medical device sales to help pay for the expanded coverage in the health care reform bill. This tax, of 2.3 percent, has the industry’s manufacturers lobbying for the passage of one of the five bills before Congress that would eliminate the tax. Led by the major device companies and their PACs, efforts are being made to illustrate that this additional monetary burden will negatively affect research, innovation and jobs. The industry’s customers such as hospitals and group purchasing organizations are also concerned that this tax may prompt device companies to pass along the costs to them. Fearing such a scenario, groups like the American Hospital Association are advocating that companies should not be allowed to pass the cost to the consumers.
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