Abstract
When the United States federal government entered a shutdown in the fall of 2013, the budget crisis took center stage in the political debate. The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) was one of the most contentious issues on the agenda, and among the bargaining chips in the discussion was the disputed issue of the medical device excise tax (“MDET”). The excise tax, imposed upon the sale of certain medical devices, has raised quite a bit of bipartisan opposition and has been up for repeal or reform over a dozen times to date. The increasing attention the tax has received since its inception, and especially since it became a part of the fiscal fight, has raised concerns from numerous sources over both the tax itself and its structure. The medical device industry is adamant that the MDET will have crippling effects on theindustry, by forcing firms to cut jobs, spending on innovation, and in some cases, operations all together. The federal government, on the other hand, argues the MDET is a fair method of taxation, as the medical device industry will receive a windfall from the increase in revenue when the ACA requ
Recommended Citation
Kensington A. Wolgamott,
No Longer Left to Their Own Devices: Evaluating the Non-Traditional Medical Device Excise Tax,
29
Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y
497
(2015).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol29/iss2/7