Lobbying to kill PPACA's tax on medical devices is picking up steam.

The industry's two primary trade groups celebrated the new year by releasing the results of surveys that indicate the tax has already taken a toll on the industry, and will take a far greater one the longer it is in place.

The groups—the Medical Device Manufacturers Association and the Advanced Medical Technology Association—timed their releases to catch the eye of the White House and Congress as both components of government swing back into action following the winter break.

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AdvaMed's industry survey suggested that nearly 140,000 jobs could be lost due to the tax. That's about 40,000 direct industry positions and other jobs that are directly dependent upon those jobs for their existence.

"Two-thirds of companies in the survey said that they have decided to slow or halt U.S. job creation as a result of the tax. The tax resulted in employment reductions of 14,000 industry workers in 2013 and years prior to implementation of the tax, with approximately an additional 4,500 jobs lost in 2014. … Considering both jobs lost and jobs not created, the tax will result in 39,000 fewer industry jobs," AdvaMed said in a release.

  • The survey also indicated that more than half of respondents has reduced R&D spending due to the tax, and that three-quarters had done one or more of the following:
  • Deferred or cancelled capital investments;
  • Deferred or cancelled plans to open new facilities;
  • Reduced investment in start-up companies; found it more difficult to raise capital (among start-up companies);
  • Reduced or deferred increases in employee compensation.

The MDMA retrieved similar responses from its survey. It reported:

  • 72 percent of companies slowed or halted job creation in the United States to pay the medical device tax
  • 85 percent of respondents said that if the device tax was repealed, they would hire new employees in the United States
  • 80 percent of respondents noted that they would increase R&D investments in the cures and therapies of tomorrow
  • When asked how much they would increase their R&D budget, the average increase was 14 percent.

"Broad support continues to grow for repealing the medical device tax, not just in Congress, but across America's innovation ecosystem," said Mark Leahey, President and CEO of MDMA. "This destructive policy has thwarted job creation and patient care for too long, and MDMA is dedicated to working with the diverse coalition of stakeholders to get repeal of the device tax across the finish line."

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.