Press Releases

On Wednesday, Eighth District Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. took to the House floor to discuss the importance of repealing the Medical Device Tax, a 2.3% excise tax on medical devices put in place by the Affordable Care Act. 

Video of the speech can be accessed here - https://youtu.be/S70Aa4pVooI, and full text is included below: 

“Mr. Speaker, in Indiana the medical device industry employs over 20,000 Hoosiers in over 300 medical device companies. These are good-paying jobs that pay 56 percent more than the average wage. 

“As Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence recently put it in a letter to our delegation, ‘This industry is vital to Indiana’s economy and the health and well-being of people across the nation and world.’

“Unfortunately, this critical industry is living under the shadow of a job-killing tax put in place to pay for Affordable Care Act. 

“In fact, companies in Indiana have already halted research projects and plans for expansion. 

“The Medical Device Tax is crippling innovation of life-saving products like the ones I used as a surgeon, and it’s putting patients and jobs at risk.  

“This is about patients, at the end of the day, and their access to healthcare. 

“We’ve had broad bipartisan support for repeal of the Medical Device Tax in both chambers before. It’s time to put an end to this onerous tax once and for all.”

BACKGROUND: 

H.R. 160, the Protect Medical Innovation Act, repeals the 2.3% excise tax on medical devices put in place to help pay for the Affordable Care Act. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), has broad bipartisan support with 282 cosponsors. Similar legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in the 113th Congress but was not brought up for a vote in the U.S. Senate. However, in March of 2013, the Senate passed a non-binding budget resolution opposing the tax by a bipartisan vote of 79-20 and earlier this year, a bipartisan group of Senators filed a bill to repeal the tax. 

Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. is a physician and Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee serving his third term representing Indiana's 8th Congressional district. The 8th District of Indiana includes all or parts of Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, and Warrick counties.  

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