This post was also written by Ruth N. Holzman and Angelo Ciavarella.
Yesterday the House approved by a vote of 270-146 legislation to repeal the ACA’s controversial 2.3% excise tax on the sale price of certain medical devices, which is scheduled to apply to sales after December 31, 2012. The repeal provision is included in H.R. 436, the Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012, which also would: repeal ACA provisions that disqualify expenses for over-the-counter medicine under certain health savings arrangements; allow employees with health flexible savings arrangements funded through salary deductions to “cash out” any remaining balance at year-end (up to $500), and treat such funds as taxable compensation; and require individuals who receive ACA health insurance exchange subsidies to which they are not entitled to repay the full amount of overpayments. The bill now moves to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain, particularly since the Administration has threatened to veto the bill. According to the Administration, the medical device industry will benefit from expanded health insurance coverage under the ACA, and a repeal would “fund tax breaks for industry by raising taxes on middle-class and low-income families.”