MITA supports delaying medical device tax for 5 more years

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) has come out supporting new legislation that would delay the medical device tax for five years. The bill, HR 4716, was introduced by Reps. Erik Paulsen, R-Minnesota and Jackie Walorski, R-Indiana.

Congress agreed to suspend the 2.3-percent tax on medical devices for two years in 2015. That two-year period would end Dec. 31, 2017.

“The five-year suspension is a step in the right direction for stimulating economic growth, encouraging medical innovation and improving patient care,” Patrick Hope, MITA’s executive director, said in a prepared statement. “Allowing the device tax to restart in 2018, even temporarily, would amount to a tax hike on the industry and could result in job loss as well as disruptions to the medical imaging industry’s ability to innovate. Ultimately, we hope that Congress will continue to work toward full repeal of the medical device tax to safeguard high-paying, high-quality industry jobs and ensure that patients have access to the latest medical imaging technology.”

The MITA statement added that the medical technology industry is “a true economic success story” that provides jobs for more than 400,000 people. It also stated that 80 percent of the industry’s companies have fewer than 50 employees.