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Opinion: A tax on medical devices makes no sense. It’s time to eliminate it for good

The medical device tax is killing jobs, slashing investment, and ultimately delaying patient access to novel technologies.
The permanent removal of a tax on medical devices, like the pacemaker shown here, is under consideration by Congress.

Earlier this year, Congress made the wise decision to once again suspend the medical device tax for two years. But this temporary reprieve doesn’t go far enough. To maintain the nation’s vibrant medical technology ecosystem, it’s time to eliminate the tax altogether and stop penalizing some of our most creative companies.

The device tax is an excise tax. These are often applied to products associated with specific behaviors, like alcohol or health.

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