US government takes a pause, medical device tax repeal effort does not

The partial shutdown (except essential services) of the Federal Government due to the missed budget deadline will mean some suspension of services and furloughed people (with the far more important debt limit/default deadline looming in mid-October)–but no year long postponement of the unready-for-prime time Affordable Care Act (ACA). What is surprising is the bi-partisan support, separate from the budget wrangle, for eliminating the medical device excise tax, especially by legislators in states heavily dependent on device manufacturing, such as Minnesota. Perhaps the NPR writer did not know quite what he was writing, but it seems like the medical device companies were targeted and punished–and continue to be by HHS and the White House–by their refusal to horse trade a deal back in 2009 for the government to get a small bite rather than a large one, similar to what the pharma companies and insurers did. How A Tax On Medical Devices United Political Rivals (NPR.org)