Bad Hombres, Russian Hackers And … A Medical Device Tax?

http://khn.org/news/bad-hombres-russian-hackers-and-a-medical-device-tax/

commercial_medicaldevicetax

In an election season in which the presidential campaign “issues” have ranged from “hot mics” to emails, some down-ballot campaign ads highlight a wonky, far less racy topic: a tax on medical devices.

Really? Why?

The tax taps into voters’ feelings about placing such levies on businesses and into opinions about the Affordable Care Act’s future. A provision of the federal health law, it was designed to tax manufacturers of some of the most expensive items on medical bills — from pacemakers to artificial joints. Revenues from the tax were meant to help finance the act, so to some it became a proxy for the act itself. Congress voted to suspend it for two years — until 2018 — after intense lobbying by the medical device industry, and, in states with a heavy industry presence, candidates are being asked to take a stand on whether they’ll push to have the tax repealed.

Where is the tax becoming campaign fodder?