Sept 09, 2011 - Medical Device Tax
Cook Medical Applauds AdvaMed Report That Medical Device Excise Tax
Would Cost US 43,000 Jobs, Stifle Innovation and Limit Patient Access to New
Medical Technologies
President Obama's address to Congress reinforces critical need to drive US
job growth, innovation and competitiveness; New tax would significantly detract
from these urgent priorities
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 9, 2011 - On the heels of President
Obama's speech to Congress about the critical need to accelerate US job growth,
Cook Medical today applauded a new study from AdvaMed demonstrating that a new
medical device excise tax would cost the US jobs, stifle innovation and limit
patient access to new medical technologies.
The new tax, which goes into effect 2013, is in sharp contrast to the
President's job creation proposal. According to the AdvaMed study, the hefty 2.3
percent tax on medical device sales will negatively impact the operations of
US-based medical device manufacturers and further exacerbate the decline of US
manufacturing jobs. The report estimates that the excise tax will put about
43,000 - 10 percent - of the 400,000+ US-based medical device employees out of
work, resulting in $3.5 billion in lost wages.
“Cook Medical has always been committed to improving the quality of patient care
and working to ensure that patients have access to the latest medical device
innovations. It is from this stance that the company approaches issues related
to job creation, innovation and the medical device excise tax,” said Kem
Hawkins, president of Cook Medical. “One of our main concerns from the AdvaMed
report is that much of the current innovation in the US medical device industry
could shift overseas. The US leads global innovation in medical devices.
Stifling innovation could limit worldwide patient access to new medical
technologies in the years to come. With the need to create and support US-based
jobs, it is clear that Congress should repeal this tax based on the negative
impact it will have on this critically important growth industry.”
Cook Medical remains committed to advancing the United States' competitiveness
in the global medical device marketplace through a focus on US-based jobs, and
supports pending House and Senate legislation that would repeal the medical
device excise tax, Hawkins added.