Right Scan Right Time Leaders Visit Capitol Hill to Call for Permanent Device Tax Repeal

Washington, DC, December 07, 2018 --(PR.com)-- Leaders from Right Scan Right Time, a patient and survivor community network of the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), held a Capitol Hill fly-in this week to meet with their Senators. In their meetings they reiterated the need for permanent repeal of the medical device tax in order to improve patient health further, propel new advancements in medical imaging technology and promote American innovation.

Highlighting how personally important the repeal issue is to a broad cross-section of Americans, patient delegates traveled to DC from Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

“Patients leaders traveled to Washington this week to voice our support for permanently repealing the medical device tax,” said Erika Brown, Right Scan Right Time advocate and CEO of PALTOWN, a patient community-engagement network. “We applaud the bipartisan Congressional leaders who are supporting patient access to medical innovation by championing the repeal of the device tax. We urge you to repeal the tax once-and-for-all this year and send a signal about the importance of investing in patients and access to innovation.”

In meetings on Capitol Hill, these advocates urged their respective Senators to permanently repeal the 2.3% excise tax on medical technology sales, which has been in place since 2013. MITA and others have long pressed Congress to recognized the harm the device tax imposes on an advanced industry that employs over 2 million Americans by voting to suspend the implementation of the tax several times. In July, the House passed the Protect Medical Innovation Act (H.R. 184) with strong, bipartisan support and now the Senate should follow suit to remove uncertainty once and for all and encourage new investment in good-paying jobs and innovation.

Patient leaders are hopeful that their concerns will be heard and Congress will repeal this burdensome tax before the end of the year.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, is the collective voice of medical imaging equipment manufacturers, innovators, and product developers. It represents companies whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for advanced medical imaging technology. For more information, visit www.medicalimaging.org. Follow MITA on Twitter @MITAToday.­­­­­