Nearly 150 groups join AdvaMed’s anti medtech tax letter

In a recent letter sent to leaders of U.S.Congress and Senate, medtech industry lobbying group AdvaMed was joined by 142 other organizations in urging for the repeal of the 2.3% medical device tax.

Major medical companies including Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), BD (NYSE:BDX), Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) added their signatures to the letter, as well as a large number of other medtech and biopharma industry groups

Although the 2.3% tax on prescribed medical devices was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it didn’t go into effect until 2012 and was mothballed two years later; that moratorium, extended earlier this year, is slated to end in 2020.

The letter restates the same arguments the industry group has provided in the past, claiming that the tax, once reinstated, could reduce investment in the development of “life-changing innovations” and reduce the number of next-generation treatments and cures “for individuals in need.”

“We urge you to act before the end of this year to permanently repeal the device tax, so that individuals with life-threatening conditions will continue to benefit from the promise of advanced medical technology to extend and improve lives,” AdvaMed wrote in the letter.

Earlier this week, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich published an editorial urging members of Congress to repeal the medical device tax.

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