Sen. Scott Brown honored for working to repeal medical device tax included in federal health care bill

Posted on April 20, 2012. Filed under: Syringe Blog | Tags: medical device tax, s. 262 |

A medical trade group named U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. legislator of the year on Thursday for working to repeal an excise tax on medical technology included in the president’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Alliance for Regenerative M Scott Brown: Images from his youth, Senate candidacy, and Senate career edicine, a trade group which honors one Republican and one Democrat each year for their work on medical innovation policies, recognized Brown’s work on S. 262, a bill which would void the 2.3 percent medical device tax bundled into the president’s health care overhaul.

Brown has been an outspoken critic of the health care legislation since running for office in 2010 following the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

The medical device tax, specifically, has become an issue in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts as Brown’s chief Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren and he have both denounced it, citing the potential detriment state’s vast landscape of medical technology companies.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association, a medical technology advocacy group, recently released a report concluding that in Massachusetts alone, that the tax would impact more than 1,800 jobs.

Defenders of the law say that the criticisms of the excise tax are overstated and the health care law would increase business for medical technology companies as more people would have health insurance.

Warren previously said that there was a better way to address the tax rather than throwing out the entire health care law, as Brown has suggested, and she penned an editorial for the trade journal Mass Device this week to tout her stance.

But as the sitting senator, Brown’s work caught the attention of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, which presented him with its highest award.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the many medical companies devoted to advancing health care, particularly the Massachusetts companies that are members of ARM,” Brown said in a statement. “In Massachusetts, we are very proud of the role we play in cutting edge research and developing the latest medical treatments. I am committed to being an advocate for basic and transitional research, and bringing the results of that research to the American people so it can improve their lives.”

Brown was also honored by the Medical Device Manufacturers Association in 2011 for his work to repeal the tax.

The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the health care law and when it rules, the decision could retain the entire law, overturn portions of it or strike down the law entirely. If the court upholds the law and legislation such as Brown’s S. 262 doesn’t pass, the 2.3 percent medical device tax will go into effect in 2013.