Washington, D.C. — As part of approval of a bipartisan funding package to avoid another government shutdown, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Marietta) voted to fully repeal the Medical Device Excise Tax. The repeal has been long-requested by manufacturers, and supports research into new devices and thousands of medical device industry employees.

"American patients deserve more access to quality, affordable health care," said McBath. "The repeal of the medical device tax will lower the costs of care, improve access to these medical devices, and protect medtech manufacturing jobs throughout Georgia and our country."

After announcement of the repeal, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the largest medical technology trade association in the world, released the following statement thanking McBath for her leadership in the fight to repeal the medical device excise tax.

“On behalf of patients everywhere and the entire medical technology industry, I want to thank Rep. Lucy McBath for her hard work in Congress to repeal the medical device tax. Because of her efforts, America will continue to be the world leader in medical innovation and patients everywhere have improved access to life-changing medical innovation,” said AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker.

The 2.3% medical device excise tax, enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, was temporarily repealed in 2016. Had Congress not passed a full repeal, the tax would have taken effect again in 2020 and threatened the development of new treatments and cures for American patients and put more than 21,000 medtech manufacturing jobs at risk.

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