The Obama administration won't back repeal of the 2.3% medical device tax contained in the Affordable Care Act, says Health & Human Services Dept. secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The White House will not support repeal of the medical device tax, Dept. of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said during a House hearing this week.
House Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) asked Sebelius why the Obama administration continues to oppose repeal of the medtech tax despite "overwhelming support" from Congress. He cited the Senate's bipartisan, non-binding 79-20 vote to repeal the medical device tax as well as last year's House vote as evidence of Congress' willingness to strike the levy.
Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) asks Eric Shinseki, secretary of the U.S. Veterans Affairs Dept., to detail the impact of the 2.3% medical device tax on the VA's ability to provide medical devices for wounded service members.
Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and all but 1 of Indiana's delegation in the U.S. House sent a letter to Eric Shinseki, secretary of the U.S. Veterans Affairs Dept., asking for some color on how the medical device tax will hit the VA.
Walorski, joined by the other 6 Republican representatives from the Hoosier State and Democrat André Carson (only Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) failed to sign on), asked Shinseki to quantify the impact of the 2.3% levy on medical device revenues on the VA in fiscal 2014 and FY2015.
House Republicans seeking to strike the medical device tax must stray from "the regular order" and ensure support in the Senate before sending the upper house a repeal bill, according to members of the House's powerful Ways & Means Committee.
Opponents of the medical device tax can no longer rely on "the regular order" to score a win, according to Republicans on the House of Representatives' powerful Ways & Means committee.
Member of the House are working on a "prearranged" agreement with the U.S. Senate in order to work out the details of a repeal bill before it comes to a vote in the House, a handful of Reps said during radio interviews this month.
Anonymous D.C. insiders say that "the House is not ready to send any tax vehicle to the Senate right now," a potential disappointment for those hoping to leverage a recent non-binding Senate vote to bring down the medical device tax.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Although many are hoping to capitalize on the momentum raised by the Senate's recent non-binding vote to push repeal of the medical device tax, some insiders say that the House isn't making much progress on the measure.
A medtech tax repeal bill may not make it on its own any time soon, but may hinge on a larger bill geared toward broader corporate tax reform, according to Roll Call's anonymous sources.
Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) defend efforts to repeal the medical device tax after a Washington Post editorial calls the recent Senate vote a "budget-busting mistake."
A bipartisan duo of U.S. Representatives criticized the editorial board of the Washington Post this week over an editorial that called the Senate's recent non-binding vote to repeal the medical device tax a "budget-busting mistake."
Senate hopeful Ed Markey says he would have voted to strike the 2.3% medical device tax had he been in the nation's upper house when the vote was tallied this month.
U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) offered his support to opponents of the medical device tax, saying that, had he had the chance, he would have sided with the Senate majority in voting to repeal the levy.
Markey, a long-time Bay State lawmaker, is hoping to make the jump from the House to the Senate, vying for upper chamber seat left behind by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The FDA denies rumors that the 2.3% medical device tax will apply to smartphones or tablets.
The FDA this week rejected the notion that the 2.3% medical device tax contained in the Affordable Care Act would apply to iPhones, tablets or other smartphone technology.
Rumors of the "iPhone tax" reached the House Energy & Commerce Investigations subcommittee, where Republican members asked the FDA for an explanation.
