New Bipartisan Medical Technology Caucus in Senate
Support for the medical device industry appears to be growing on Capitol Hill after the relaunch of a Senate medical technology caucus by Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Amy Kloubchar (D-Minn.).
Brown, one the GOP’s brightest stars, and the liberal Klobuchar may seem like strange bedfellows. But both represent communities where the medical device business has sunk deep roots. Minnesota and Massachusetts combined are home to the U.S. headquarters of most of the top 10 medical device companies in the world, accounting for more than 100,000 jobs.
The caucus will focus legislative attention on the medical technology sector, according to the senators. A few of their pet issues are likely to be the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax contained in the national healthcare reform law and changes to the 510(k) program afoot at the FDA. – Source: MEDcity
I’m not sure about the inner workings of Washington and Senate Caucus’, but I like the idea that Brown and Kloubchar are likely to encourage legislation that will get the government out of the way. Yes, I’m definitely a less government kind of guy. We’ll see how it plays out with these 2 who come from very different sides of the aisle.
