A bill that would extend a credit to medical device companies in Minnesota to cover the medical device tax reportedly passed a North Star State House committee yesterday.
The medical device tax, a 2.3% excise levy on all U.S. sales of prescribed medical devices, went into effect at the beginning of 2013 as part of Obamacare. The tax has been the object of a repeal movement among national legislators, and states like Minnesota and Massachusetts with large medtech contingents are exploring credits to offset the tax.
The Minnesota House Health & Human Services Reform Policy Committee approved the tax credit measure yesterday, according to the Rochester Post-Bulletin, with sponsor Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston) calling the medtech tax "tremendously unfair."
"This is an ill-conceived tax for an ill-conceived program that has failed," Davids told the newspaper.
A companion bill in the Minnesota Senate is being sponsored by Sen. Dave Senjem (R-Rochester), according to the Post-Bulletin.
At least 1 Minnesota state representative said she’s against granting a medical device tax credit, according to the report.
"I don’t think that Minnesota should be making up for taxes imposed by the federal government," Rep. Tina Liebling (D-Rochester) said, noting that the medtech industry seems to be doing well.
"I’m not going to cry any tears over this extra [tax] money," Liebling said, according to the report.
In Massachusetts, former Gov. Deval Patrick pledged to create a commission to study a tax credit for the Bay State’s considerable medtech industry. A spokesman for Patrick’s successor, Gov. Charlie Baker, told MassDevice.com last year that Baker would also support a tax credit for the Commonwealth’s medical device companies.
"If the committee is not yet formed when he takes office, Charlie will act to form the committee because he believes medical device companies are essential to growing the Massachusetts economy," the spokesman told us via email, noting that Baker would also "urge the congressional delegation to repeal the medical device tax to protect Massachusetts’ economy."