“Tax Effect Not Minimal and is Responsible for 18,500 Job Losses”

The medical device tax has a “profound negative effect” on the nation’s jobs and innovation, AdvaMed President and CEO Stephen Ubl and Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance Executive Director Gail Rodriguez explain in an editorial.

In an editorial in The Washington Post, the two medical device industry representatives respond to a projection by the Congressional Research Service that negative effects of the tax will be minimal, by pointing to 18,500 jobs that have been lost and 20,500 jobs that will not be created in the next five years because of the tax.

“Congress should repeal the device tax to remove roadblocks that thwart getting innovative medical technologies to patients,” they write.

The tax has a profound negative effect of the tax on employment and research and development in one of the United States’ most innovative sectors.

We dispute the Congressional Research Service’s prediction of the tax’s minimal impact on jobs and note that the service didn’t speak to representatives of medical device companies to inform the analysis. Anyone who did would understand how big an impact the tax is having.

A recent industry survey found the tax was responsible for 18,500 job losses and will lead to forgone hiring of 20,500 more over five years. In addition, 53 percent of respondents said their company had reduced R&D investment because of the tax and 58 percent said they would consider further reductions if the tax stays.

Ubl and Rodriguez, via the editorial, repeat the demand that Congress should repeal the device tax to remove roadblocks that thwart getting innovative medical technologies to patients.

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