Prostheses providers face federal tax
Funding for the Senate's health care reform bill includes a proposed $4 billion tax on med-tech companies that has gathered a bipartisan contingent of opponents, many from Minnesota, the Star Tribune said.
Local med-tech company executives and prosthetic limb recipients such as Aaron Holm, 43, of Shakopee, Minn., spoke out against the tax at a hearing organized by Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., the Star Tribune said.
"This industry is an American success story. I want to make sure it stays that way," Paulsen said, according to the Star Tribune.
Howard Root, CEO of a Maple Grove heart-device company called Vascular Solutions, said that the immediate effects of the tax would be reduced funding for research and development and the elimination of an internship program, the Star Tribune said.
"We're not the bank to rob to pay for reform," Root said.
As of now, the U.S. House version of the bill contains no tax on the medical device industry, which Minnesota has pioneered through companies such as Medtronic, Guidant and St. Jude Medical, KARE 11 said.
Local med-tech company executives and prosthetic limb recipients such as Aaron Holm, 43, of Shakopee, Minn., spoke out against the tax at a hearing organized by Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., the Star Tribune said.
"This industry is an American success story. I want to make sure it stays that way," Paulsen said, according to the Star Tribune.
Howard Root, CEO of a Maple Grove heart-device company called Vascular Solutions, said that the immediate effects of the tax would be reduced funding for research and development and the elimination of an internship program, the Star Tribune said.
"We're not the bank to rob to pay for reform," Root said.
As of now, the U.S. House version of the bill contains no tax on the medical device industry, which Minnesota has pioneered through companies such as Medtronic, Guidant and St. Jude Medical, KARE 11 said.
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