Letters: Taxing life-saving devices

Re “Medical device tax needs to stay,” Column, May 22

Michael Hiltzik mischaracterized the medical technology industry’s concerns about the medical device tax. His support of the tax flies in the face of the day-to-day reality facing the tens of thousands of Californians who work for the industry.

Simply put, the Affordable Care Act’s $30-billion tax on medical device and diagnostics companies is taking away critical funding for research and development, capital investments and hiring. Repealing the device tax is an important first step toward overall corporate tax reform. It also makes economic common sense.

When you tax something, you get less of it. Americans need more access to innovative, life-saving medical devices, not less. The tax’s repeal would do nothing to undercut the policy objectives of healthcare reform, which is why so many Democrats and Republicans support it.

JC Scott

Washington

The writer is the senior vice president for government affairs at the Advanced Medical Technology Assn.

Hiltzik not only exposed another problem with keeping the Affordable Care Act intact, he also showed the corrupting influence Washington has on the most seemingly incorruptible people we send there. I was very disappointed to find that Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) both bowed to the usual corruption of big-business dollars.

Is there no one we can trust? Apparently not, until we significantly reform our campaign finance laws, which we know could never happen until we throw all the bums out.

Paul Elder

Agoura Hills

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