The industry is facing many challenges right now, and perhaps the device tax is seemingly one of the easier issues to understand, driving further media attention. That said, issues related to profitability in the ever growing medical device field is far from straightforward, and it will take more than finger-pointing for the cost of health care to slow its rapid increase.
The general public is very concerned with how much the cost of health care is right now and also how much medical devices cost. I think that the medical device tax is a very easy thing to lash out at because many don't see this as a bipartisan effort and don't see the Affordable Care Act as being a very good thing.
I think there are a lot of people out there who are very scared about what is going on in terms of the device industry, and the manufacturers are using this fear to ensure that they can build as much momentum as possible to reduce this tax. It will be interesting to see what comes in the next few months!
About the author: Rob Littlefield, MSc, is a medical device senior analyst at GlobalData. He has over eight years of experience in industry analysis, market forecasting and primary research in the device industry.Back to HCB News
