Leaders of medical device lobbying groups joined forces this week to refute a New York Times editorial painting recent successes in the effort to repeal the device tax as "one industry’s hold on the Senate."
The Times’ editorial board earlier this month published a piece depicting the Senate’s recent non-binding vote to repeal the tax as the "pay-off" of industry’s "forceful and well-financed campaign." Medtech groups "donated generously to lawmakers and candidates, taken them on tours of their plants and spent tens of millions in lobbying," according to the Times.
Executives from a quartet of associations this week issued their rebuttal to the editorial, calling the tax "poor policy" and defending lawmakers’ support for repeal.
"Overwhelming bipartisan majorities in Congress want to repeal the medical device tax because they understand how important medical technology is to our economy and patient care," according to a letter to the editor signed by AdvaMed president & CEO Stephen Ubl, Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance executive director Gail Rodriguez and Medical Device Manufacturers Assn. president & CEO Mark Leahey.
The industry followed up with now-familiar warnings about the impact of the medical device tax, including that the levy threatens jobs and U.S. leadership in medical technology.
More medical device tax coverage from MassDevice.com.
"Money to pay the tax comes from somewhere: reduced jobs, research cuts or more likely both," the medtech group leaders wrote. "Thousands have already been laid off, and analyses show that the tax threatens as many as 40,000 American jobs."
The dedicated medtech groups were joined by United Spinal Assn. president & CEO Paul Tobin in decrying the tax and refuting the Times editorial.
"United Spinal Association’s members, most of whom have spinal cord injuries or disorders, need a robust and vibrant medical device industry to provide and maintain access to employment, education and community integration," Tobin wrote in an accompanying letter to the editor. "In combination with the Health & Human Services Department’s poorly designed medical equipment bidding program, this device tax will further harm an industry under siege and have a direct, negative effect upon the lives of people with disabilities."