BY ANDREW VAHRADIAN, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
In the last action till after the mid-term elections in November, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of legislation that repeals the 2.3% medical device excise tax, demonstrating that the campaign to rescind the device tax continues in Washington.
The House voted in favor of the “Jobs for America Act”, a package of bills that had already individually passed the lower chamber, with a vote of 253 to 163. Republicans mostly voted in favor of the bill, while the majority of Democrats voted against it.
In the last couple of years, Congress has passed a number of symbolic resolutions against the tax, but this most recent attempt is unique because it not only revokes the tax, but also would issue a refund for all levies paid by medical device manufacturers since the tax went into effect on January 1, 2013.
