So I hear that the newest forgone conclusion in DC is that any bill passed will include a 40 ish Billion dollar tax on medical device manufacturers. I have seen partial lists that include cardiac implants, hearing aids, wheelchairs, and more. Well....is not the dialyzer a medical device? If we see a huge shift up in the price of dialyzers <pulls out his crystal ball>, I bet you that the scramble to fire up those old reprocessing machines and re-plumb the once retired re-use rooms will be like yelling "Free Beer!" at a NANT convention! People will get crushed in the stampede.

Just my 2 cents.

What do you all think?

And, can anyone find / link a full list of devices?

John B- Nashville

First the estimated amount of revenue from this tax is $4 billion not 40.

Regardless the tax in its current form is disliked by democrats and republicans alike and will most likely be removed from any final legislation.

If not, the potential effect will not only be on the cost of dialyzers but dialysis water treatment systems, components and parts too.

$4 Billion a year for 10 years = $40 Billion

That is whqat is proposed.

The biggest impact would be on disposables and not capitol equipment.

Tax only applies to devices that cost more than $100. Watch TV

The only reference to $100 was to contact lenses that I could find. Here is info straight from the bill.

I try to READ more than watch TV.

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Under the Chairman‘s Mark, ―covered domestic sales‖ would include U.S. sales of medical devices regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as a medical device103 and subject to premarketing and postmarketing regulatory controls. The term would not include sales attributable to Class I products (as classified under the FDA product classification system) and would exclude sales of products intended for use on animals.

103 A product labeled, promoted or used in a manner that meets the definition in section 201(h) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. For these purposes, a device is ―an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related article, including any component, part, or accessory, which is (1) recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United States Pharmacopeia, or any supplement to them, (2) intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other animals, or (3) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals, and which does not achieve its primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of its primary intended purposes.‖

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Not trying to start an argument. Just trying to have a discussion backed up by facts and not insults or somthing seen on TV.

Here is a link to the Bill. If I am wrong...i'll eat crow. Just wanted to talk about it because no matter if it effects dialyzers or not.... 40 billion dollers DOES effect our industry and our livelyhood.

http://finance.senate.gov/site...althy_Future_Act.pdf

OK techies - it is time to wake-up to the implications of the "pending" legislation. The fee applies to the manufacturers of all medical devices that "are subject to premarketing and postmarketing regulatory controls." This covers a lot more than delivery systems and dialyzers - look at everyting that you touch during the course of a treatment. Remember, in the US even concentrate is considered a "Medical Device." Everyone hold on and see what the final legislation looks like.

quote:

The term would not include sales attributable to Class I products (as classified under the FDA product classification system) and would exclude sales of products intended for use on animals

What is all the worry about...considering we are animals we should be exempt

So, if this "fee"/"tax" effects everything we use in dialysis, soon, the only provider out there able to afford to give treatments would be benifactors of the "fee"/"tax"?

Fishy