Senate bill introduced to kill sales tax on medical devices

WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota teamed with Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah Thursday to introduce a bill to kill a sales tax on medical devices.

The Senate bill, on which Democratic Sen. Al Franken is a cosponsor, comes shortly after Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives.

The Senate has been the chamber that has in the past balked at ending the 2.3 percent tax on device sales, partly because the tax helps pay for the Affordable Care Act and because President Obama threatened to veto attempts to dismantle his signature healthcare reform.

With the Senate now voting on a budget measure that would begin a process of repealing parts of the ACA and Donald Trump, an ACA opponent, about to occupy the White House, it remains to be seen whether the Senate will follow through on killing the device tax.

Senators agreed in 2015 to suspend collection of the tax in 2016 and 2017.

JIM SPENCER