Take Action NOW on Medical Device Tax

From the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD)

The federal government plans to enact a 2.3 percent medical device tax beginning January 1, 2013, unless you take action today.

This proposed tax, which was one of the key lobbying issues at the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) 2012 Government Relations Conference, will impose a fee on any medical treatment or device on the manufacturers, importers, and producers of taxable medical devices. Dental devices, such as crowns, dentures, intra-oral appliances, bridges, etc., are included in the definition of medical devices.

The AGD, and numerous other healthcare associations, believes that the tax should be repealed, or at the very least that dental treatments and devices should be exempt from this ruling since they are customized specifically, uniquely, precisely or surgically for a specific patient.

This excise tax, while originally projected to raise $20 billion in revenue, is now estimated to collect more than $30 billion in taxes. But at what cost? It will increase patients’ out-of-pocket expenses for dental care, cause some patients to delay care, and will stifle product innovation. You, as a health care provider, will need to determine whether to shift this increased expense to your patients or to absorb the tax as another cost of doing business. Neither answer is the right one.

The only right answer is to contact your legislators today and urge them to repeal this tax now. Please contact your federal legislators today and ask that they repeal the medical device excise tax.