Freshmen Lawmakers Ask Ryan To Repeal Medical Device Tax

A bipartisan group of 44 freshmen representatives sent Speaker Paul Ryan a letter Thursday asking him to include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s medical device tax as a budgetary rider.

Led by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the group wrote that the tax made it harder for patients to access necessary medical devices and hinders innovation in the industry.

“The medical device tax is a tax on revenue, rather than profit, which means that the U.S. device industry is subject to one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world,” the letter reads. “As companies look to make cuts to offset the tax, research and development is often one of the first items to go. This trade-off undermines the future of the industry and puts the discovery of new breakthrough medical technologies at risk.”