Op-Ed: “Some Medical Device Manufacturers Not Paying Their Share of Health Reform”

The Hill’s Congress Blog recently published a piece from Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) President Curtis Rooney on the shared industry responsibility for national healthcare reform and the efforts by some within the medical device community to unjustly shift the burden of the medical device excise tax onto American hospitals:

“Hospitals are now reporting that, although some suppliers are behaving responsibly, other device manufacturers are billing hospitals directly to cover the costs associated with the medical device excise tax. Although there are more than 40 taxes found in the ACA, hospitals and other healthcare providers report that medical device suppliers are the only parties indicating that they plan to pass the tax on to their customers. That is not right… 

“The HSCA recently launched Medical Device Tax Watch, a website dedicated to shining a light on efforts by some manufacturers to shift the cost burden of the device tax. The site publicly lists those suppliers that are passing on the costs associated with the device tax or those that have told hospitals that they intended to pass it on. The website also serves as a resource for hospitals and a tool for gathering evidence of manufacturers tacking the costs associated with the tax directly onto their invoices…

“We applaud those leading medical device companies that have made appropriate adjustments to their operations and found other ways to respond to this tax rather than passing it on to hospitals. As long as the device tax is in effect, we urge all other manufacturers to stop passing on the costs of the device tax immediately. No one likes paying taxes but, with few exceptions, most Americans make sure they pay the taxes they owe.”

Labels: Congress, Medical Device Excise Tax, Medical Device Tax Watch, The Hill