Dear Ranking Member Hatch and Senator Klobuchar:
Business Roundtable (BRT) strongly supports legislation introduced on February 7, 2013, the “Protect Medical Innovation Act,” which would repeal the medical device tax. This legislation would ensure that medical device manufacturers can continue developing and manufacturing innovative, high-quality medical devices that improve the lives and health of patients worldwide. At the same time, repealing the medical device tax prevents the added cost from being passed on to patients, affording them continued access to necessary medical devices without adding unnecessary costs.
Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with nearly $7.3 trillion in annual revenues and nearly 16 million employees. BRT member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock market and invest more than $150 billion annually in research and development – equal to 61 percent of U.S. private R&D spending. Our companies pay more than $182 billion in dividends to shareholders and generate an estimated $500 billion in sales for small and medium-sized businesses annually. BRT companies give more than $9 billion a year in combined charitable contributions.
Business Roundtable companies provide health coverage to nearly 40 million American workers, retirees, and their families. As such, we play a significant role in helping Americans remain healthy and access treatment when necessary. BRT CEOs have opposed the medical device tax since it was enacted and called for elimination of the tax in their pro-growth policy agenda, ‘Taking Action for America: A CEO Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth,’ released last year. Business Roundtable CEOs consistently cite rising medical care costs as their number-one cost pressure.
These costs are inhibiting job creation and damaging our ability to compete in global markets. Medical care costs are also putting a strain on the household budgets of many American families. Imposing a tax on medical device manufacturers will do nothing to incentivize innovation or improve quality and the cost will simply be passed on to consumers, without adding value to their care.
For these reasons we applaud you for introducing the Protect Medical Innovation Act, which will prevent the implementation of a new barrier to research, development, and innovation while ensuring patients continue to have access to affordable, safe, and reliable medical devices.
Business Roundtable looks forward to working with you and other Members of the Senate to achieve passage of this important, bipartisan legislation that will enable ongoing innovation and prevent individuals’ and families’ health care costs from rising unnecessarily.
Sincerely,
John Engler
JE/mg