MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Opponents of the 2.3% medical device tax are looking for opportunities to address their concerns during the Congressional debates of the so-called "fiscal cliff."
The discussions may be gaining momentum as more voices in the House and Senate call for either repeal or delay in implementation for the tax, which takes effect January 1.
Certain groups are voicing more private concerns, such as stakeholders of the dental devices industry, which have argued for a narrow exemption for devices that aren’t covered by the Affordable Care Act, which the medical device tax is intended to help support.
"The excise tax was created to help pay for the implementation of health-care reform, but dentistry is not covered by insurance," National Assn. of Dental Laboratories executive director Bennet Napier told Dentistry IQ. "So we argued that dentistry should be exempt, because there’s no benefit to dentistry from this tax."
Other groups are calling for a delay in implementation of the tax, given that the IRS released its final guidelines on the levy just last week.
A group of 18 Senators yesterday submitted a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), asking him to delay implementation of the 2.3% medical device tax in hopes of pushing the levy past its January 1 start date.
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