WINONA LAKE – Indiana Third District Congressman Marlin Stutzman and Minnesota Congressman Erik Paulsen visited Grace College in Winona Lake and OrthoPediatrics in Warsaw Friday. The congressmen held a medical device jobs roundtable at the Orthopaedic Capital Center with 23 local and state industry leaders representing 19 organizations. Following the roundtable, the congressmen toured OrthoPediatrics, an orthopedic company specializing in pediatric devices. David Bailey, OrthoPediatrics executive vice president, led the tour. The congressmen also met with Nick Deeter, OrthoPediatrics founder, chairman, president and CEO, and company employees. Stutzman is an original co-sponsor of H.R. 523, the Protect Medical Innovation Act, introduced by Paulsen in January 2011. Paulsen is co-chair of the House Medical Technology Caucus. The legislation proposes to eliminate the 2.3 percent tax on medical device sales that went into effect January 1 and is included in President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On June 7 the House of Representatives passed the bill and legislation now awaits action before the U.S. Senate. During the roundtable at Grace College, Stutzman and Paulsen discussed with local and state orthopedic leaders the industry’s strengths at home and challenges in Washington, D.C. Stutzman said Warsaw is a gem in the orthopedic industry, and if the tax is repealed it would mean more innovation for the industry. “It would mean that we would put ourselves at a competitive advantage compared to Ireland, Singapore and Malaysia,” Stutzman said. “We are not talking millions of dollars, we are talking billions of dollars that will be sucked out of the orthopedic industry if the tax is not repealed.” Stutzman said those dollars will go to Washington and pay for the health care law. Stutzman said he is optimistic that the device tax will be repealed, and said his hope is that Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly will be a leader in the repeal. “Donnelly will be a big piece in the senate in leading the discussion to repeal the tax.” Donnelly, when he was a representative, signed on to a bill to repeal the device tax. As senator he also signed on to a letter to the senate leader urging delay in implementation. Paulsen said he authored the bill to repeal the medical device tax because he knew when the tax was first proposed it would have a negative effect on medical device innovation. He said Minnesota has as strong an ecosystem of medical device companies as in Indiana. “I knew it was important to stop the tax and now that it has started it is even more important to act,” Paulsen said. Paulsen said the good news is that there is more momentum with more democrats in the House who have signed onto the bill when it was re-introduced. He also said there are more senators who have signed onto the bill to repeal the medical device tax, which was not the case last year. “It is a challenge of getting senators to pressure their leadership that they should have a vote on repealing the medical device tax,” Paulsen said. Paulsen said orthopedic companies such as OrthoPediatrics are important for innovation and providing critical patient care with breakthrough technology. “Repealing the medical device tax will ensure that there is more research and development in these technologies that means more jobs and engineers and strengthens the ecosystem,” Paulsen said. “Many of these companies, because of competition, are being drawn and attracted overseas and once they leave we won’t get them back and we need to keep them here and growing.” Paulsen said it was helpful to meet with local orthopedic leaders to hear how the tax is impacting their companies. He said the information he and Stutzman received Friday will educate their colleagues on the importance of the orthopedic industry. Also during the roundtable, Dr. Ron Manahan, Grace College president, and Joe Thallemer, Warsaw mayor, provided remarks at the Orthopaedic Capital Center. “This building is a symbol of the support of the medical device industry in this community and without the help of the industry the building would not be here,” Manahan said. He said the building also symbolizes the campus support of the medical device industry and the college wants the industry to thrive. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer commended the congressmen for their commitment in supporting the medical device industry. “Washington needs to let our local orthopedic industry centered in our great city continue as the industry leader in domestic and global sales,” Thallemer said.
