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SOUTH JORDAN — Flanked by medical technology professionals at Merit Medical Systems headquarters on Monday, Rep. Mia Love called on the U.S. Senate to move quickly to repeal the Affordable Care Act's medical device tax, saying it unduly interferes with innovation in the state.
The Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2018, which would permanently repeal a 2.3 percent tax on certain types of medical equipment that went into effect in 2013, easily passed late last month in the U.S. House of Representatives with the support of all of Utah's representatives. The House passed the bill 283-182, with just one dissenting Republican vote and the support of 57 Democrats.
The medical device tax was designed to apply to everything from MRI machines to pacemakers to surgical equipment, with carved out exceptions for common retail medical items like eyeglasses, hearing aids and band-aids. Two prior bills passed by Congress have placed a moratorium on the tax, rendering it inactive since the beginning of 2016.
The latest bill, sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minnesota, would do away with the tax forever. Love and 222 other members of the House of Representatives joined as sponsors of the measure on the day it was first introduced in early 2017.
Love said Monday that medical technology manufacturing companies, which feel the full brunt of the tax, contribute $5 billion per year to the state's economy and provide Utahns with 10,000 good jobs.
"This it not just about trying to preserve this industry, it really is looking no further than our neighbors" who support their families by working on developing and improving "medical technology that saves people's lives," the Utah Republican said.
Related story:
House votes to repeal Obama-era tax on some medical devices
The House has voted to repeal a tax on some medical devices that has helped finance President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.The latest moratorium on the medical device tax lasts until the end of 2019. But medical technology companies such as Merit Medical — a South Jordan-based company that calls itself "a leading manufacturer and marketer of disposable medical devices" — are anxious to see a permanent repeal of the tax while political support is strong.
Though it is currently inactive, the tax "continues to loom ... over our companies," which significantly complicates the planning of future projects, said Greg Fredde, executive vice president of business development for Merit Medical.
Fredde also called the tax "punitive" and said it was a "tax on innovation."
Love said she doesn't want the Senate to be complacent about voting for a permanent repeal. She wants "an urgency," she said.
"We really don't have two years to get it done. … I just don't want to wait past that time" at which the current moratorium expires, Love said.
This story will be updated with more information.
