Washington, D.C. – More than 140 patient advocacy, disability, research, community, and health care industry organizations are calling on Congress to permanently repeal the medical device tax before the end of this year.

In a joint letter to the leadership of both chambers, the coalition expressed deep concern about the future of medical technology innovation and its impact on patient care should the medical device excise tax be reinstated.

“We urge you to act before the end of this year to permanently repeal the device tax, so that individuals with life-threatening conditions will continue to benefit from the promise of advanced medical technology to extend and improve lives,” the letter reads.
The letter emphasizes that over the past three decades, rapid technological advances have helped increase life expectancy in the U.S. by more than five years and have helped significantly reduce mortality rates for major diseases, including stroke and heart disease mortality rates by nearly 60 percent and breast cancer mortality rates by more than 30 percent.

“Full repeal of the device tax would mean that the medical technology industry can continue innovating new approaches to managing chronic health issues, improving the overall quality of life, and developing technologies that could revolutionize the way we treat disease and illness in this country,” the letter reads.

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