As we get a much clearer picture of the ACA debate in congress, the day of reckoning is near. The Democrats and Republicans alike will be forced to fix what’s broken and, simply put, the facts facing the parties still centers around either the Federal Government or the States footing the bill. Dropping the ball altogether is not an option. 

Should the residents of Iowa pay for the millions of poor uninsured people of Illinois, California, Texas and New York? At its core that question encapsulates the imminent raging debate. Unless States intend on shutting down emergency rooms nationwide, everyone showing up gets treated ACA or not. Between the States and Federal Government it’s all getting funded regardless, the ACA just evens things out amongst the US population.

Amid this ongoing debate, one thing remains fairly clear, the Republican win has ensured a great victory for the entire medical device industry as the likely revocation of the 2.3% medical device excise tax will provide a substantial bonus for both behemoths and small players alike.

According to the medical device trade association AdvaMed, the entire MedTech fraternity is looking forward to the new policymakers who will be working on improving the FDA regulatory process, repealing the medical device tax and ensuring the coverage process allows patients access to the latest innovations.

This unreasonable tax, which was commonly addressed as “fund of the ACA,” simply took a toll on the entire medical device industry since its enactment in 2013. Data published in a report in Fierce Medical Device stated in 2014 Johnson & Johnson made a payment of $180 million in medical device tax payments, while Medtronic (MDT), Legacy Covidien and Smith & Nephew (SNN) paid $112 million, $60 million and $25 million, respectively.

According to the MedTech community, the cancellation of this tax along with other positive issues will create the following:

• Greater opportunities for research and development.
• Innovation & pipeline development.
• Make the investments needed to accelerate patient and provider access to innovative health care products.
• Increases in Mergers & Acquisitions and emerging market expansion.
• Positive demographic trends and explosive population growth over the next 20 years
• New product innovation, all of which have been the vital force behind this explosive uptrend.
• Minimally invasive surgeries on the rise requiring new innovative instruments.
• Rising demand for rapid and cutting edge medical testing and procedures.
• Shifting of the payment system to a value-based model.