“It’s harder to justify a medical device investment than a biotech, in terms of the venture capitalist wanting them,” Carlson said.

But companies are worried about the impact the repeal would have on affordable access to insurance, rooted in the fear that without such access, people would not be able to afford medical care, thereby causing a drop in doctor visits and patient numbers.


With reduced patient numbers, hospitals have fewer funds and are less likely to invest their money in projects and resources, such as medical devices.

“In a lot of ways, their main customers are hospitals,” said Carlson. “If hospitals don’t have adequate funding, they are at the bottom of the food chain in terms of device companies. When they make a proposal and hospitals don’t have adequate funding, it’s pretty clear that investment in devices is going to go down.”

Such an impact, according to Carlson, could especially affect certain types of device manufacturers more than others, such as those that produce wheelchair and glucose monitor technology, or ambulatory and respiratory device makers.

Device companies are in favor of repealing the tax either through this bill or through a separate one that addresses elimination of the tax specifically.

But health care reform is not the only issue on the minds of medical device executives, and not the biggest when compared to FDA reform, speeding up review processes, device labeling and user fees.

Carlson says repeal would do little to bolster market growth and only allow companies to avoid possible negative effects that the tax could pose to investments.

“We’re only talking about a market that grows 2-3 percent each year,” he said. “I don’t think it contributes too much to market growth. It was something that was not present prior to the passage of the ACA.”

The senate is currently debating the proposed legislation.

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