Medical device industry lobbying groups are looking to generate some grassroots interest in repealing a 2.3% sales tax that took effect at the start of the year, beginning with a pilot employee training program at AngioDynamics’ (NSDQ:ANGO) New York headquarters.
Officials from medtech lobbying organization AdvaMed were on site last week to launch the 1st of what may become a larger program to get employees more involved with efforts to take down the tax, which is expected to generate about $30 million over a period of 10 years.
The program hopes to encourage political advocacy on behalf of the U.S. medical device industry in issues larger than just the medical device tax as well, AdvaMed government affairs senior executive vice president JC Scott told The Post-Star.
"It’s not just about the medical device tax, although that’s a core issue," Scott said. "It’s about all of the policies."
More medical device tax coverage from MassDevice.com.
The pilot educational program may spread to other organizations if it goes well at AngioDynamics, according to president & CEO Joseph DeVivo, who is also a board member for AdvaMed.
"We want to educate (employees) about what’s going on with legislation," DeVivo told reporters. "We want to educate them about how they can get involved. Hopefully, if this goes well, this will be a prototype for how we work within other device companies to educate and engage."
This year the top 19 public and private medical device makers in Massachusetts alone are projected to pay nearly $422.3 million in compliance with the new medtech tax, according to a Pioneer Institute analysis. The funds are intended to help expand health insurance access for many Americans, but there are trade-offs, the analysts warned. Potential down-sides include lost jobs, chopped research & development budgets and more state dollars funneled to Washington D.C.