Patient group pushes U.S. Senate to permanently repeal medical device tax

Members of Right Scan Right Time, a patient and survivor group managed by the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), flew to Capitol Hill last week to push for the permanent repeal of the medical device tax.

Back in July, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the 2.3 percent tax, but the Senate has yet to follow suit.  

“We applaud the bipartisan Congressional leaders who are supporting patient access to medical innovation by championing the repeal of the device tax,” Erika Brown, Right Scan Right Time member, said in a prepared statement. “We urge you to repeal the tax once-and-for-all this year and send a signal about the importance of investing in patients and access to innovation.”

Members flew in from all over the country in this latest effort to get the tax repealed. The patient advocates argued to their senators that the tax does considerable harm to the entire medical device industry.