A tight year-end legislative schedule and impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump could prevent lawmakers from repealing a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices before it takes effect, MedTech Dive reports.
Four things to know:
1. The 2.3 percent tax, which was originally included in the ACA to help pay for health insurance subsidies, has been suspended since 2015. It is set to go back into effect on Jan. 1.
2. Cost is a barrier to repealing the tax, along with ongoing impeachment proceedings and a packed legislative agenda. Repealing the tax would cost an estimated $1.6 billion in 2020 and $2.2 billion in 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation.
3. In recent weeks, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., has attempted to get a permanent repeal passed by attaching the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2019 to other pieces of legislation. The bill has 256 bipartisan co-sponsors.
4. The medical device tax was set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2018, but lawmakers passed a two-year delay of the tax Jan. 22, 2018, that was retroactive to the beginning of the year. The same thing could happen if in 2020 a repeal doesn't make it onto lawmakers' year-end agenda, MedTech Dive reported.
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