Device tax creeps into presidential, Senate campaigns

Try to find anyone in the medical device industry who supports the 2.3% medical device tax set to start next year, and you'll likely come up short. Passed as part of the national health reform law, the tax has generated fierce opposition from device companies as a killer of both jobs and innovation. As MassDevice reports, the issue has become a talking point among the remaining Republican candidates for president, and in the Senate races in Minnesota and Massachusetts--the states with the two major clusters of device industry activity in the U.S. Mitt Romney has spoken out against the act. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is running for re-election, has been placed on the defensive for voting for the tax as part of the health reform law. And Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, a Republican, has used the tax as a talking point in his battle against Elizabeth Warren, who supports the health reform law. Story