Device Tax Delay? 18 Senate Dems Say ‘Yes’; Obama Says ‘No’

Article preview from "The Gray Sheet" - December 17, 2012

Potential delay of the device tax seemed to gain momentum with a recent letter from 18 Senate Democrats to Senate Majority Leader Reid, but the president and Senate Finance Committee leadership are not on board.

 

 Device Tax Delay? 18 Senate Dems Say ‘Yes’; Obama Says ‘No’

 Article preview from "The Gray Sheet" - December 17, 2012

The fate of the medical device excise tax continued to get some high-profile attention last week in the midst of ongoing fiscal-cliff negotiations in Washington, D.C.

While the prospects of an outright repeal of the 2.3% excise tax by the end of the year are dimming, the chances that the tax could be delayed from its scheduled Jan. 1 start date seemed to improve measurably with a recent letter sent by 16 prominent Senate Democrats and two incoming Senate Democrats to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., expressing support for that option.

But it was not long before President Obama deflated the momentum, saying in a Dec. 13 interview with a Minnesota-based CBS affiliate that he would not be willing to delay the device tax.

The Affordable Care Act, in which the device tax was enacted, is “going to be great for business and [the device industry is] doing really well right now and they’re going to get 30 million more customers as a consequence, so this additional tax essentially comes back to them as new customers,” the president told interviewer Frank Vascellaro.

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