Senate working on medical-device tax repeal

Members of the U.S. Senate are facing an uphill battle in getting votes to repeal a medical device tax that manufacturers say is stalling business growth. The Senate is trying to find ways to replace the $30 billion in revenue that the tax creates to help fund health care reform. After intense lobbying by the medical device industry, the Senate voted on March 21 to repeal the 2.3% sales tax on products like pacemakers, surgical tools and a long list of other devices. The vote is somewhat symbolic, however, because the measure was an amendment to the Senate Democrat's budget bill, which isn't likely to pass.