MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Despite repeated warnings and laments, the medical device tax implemented with healthcare reform hasn’t appeared to make much of a dent in the industry’s research & development activities, according to a small report.
Medical device makers and industry advocates have long warned that the 2.3% medical device tax enacted in the Affordable Care Act will damage the industry by taking funds from companies’ research & development budgets, but a look at 2013 spending for some of the industry’s biggest firms suggests that the tax had little impact.
Minnesota 2020 fellow Ronald Goldser cited a 2013 report from medtech industry lobby AdvaMed as well as R&D budgets for Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), concluding that "the ACA has had little impact on R&D expenditures."
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