A bill to repeal the planned 2.3% tax on medical device sales cleared a powerful House committee Thursday, setting the stage for a full vote as early as next week. The Ways and Means Committee voted 23-11 to remove the tax from the Affordable Care Act before it takes effect in 2013. The device lobby Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA) has said the charge would cost the industry about $30 billion over 10 years, and the repeal effort has largely broken along party lines in Congress. Only two of the committee's Democrats voted for the repeal, and, if the bill passes the full House, it would need to clear the Democrat-controlled Senate before landing on President Barack Obama's desk. Report