California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) Welcomes Proposed 5-Year Delay of Medical Device Tax

WASHINGTON, SAN FRANCISCO & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- California Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the trade association representing California’s life sciences industry, welcomes the introduction of new legislation in Congress this week that suspends until December 2024 the innovation and job hindering 2.3% medical device excise tax levied on medical device firms established as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The tax is currently suspended until December 2019. The following statement can be attributed to Sara Radcliffe, President & CEO, CLSA:

“California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) welcomes the introduction of legislation that places an additional delay on the ill-conceived 2.3% medical device excise tax, until December 2024. Since its inception, this tax has only hindered investment in medical technology research and development.

“While our membership, comprised of the nation’s leading medical technology innovators, certainly welcomes an additional 5-year reprieve from the tax, CLSA will continue to advocate for full and permanent repeal, so that the U.S. does not jeopardize our position as a global leader in medical technology innovation. As the voice of California’s life sciences community, we strongly urge our California congressional delegation to support this measure to suspend this counterproductive tax.”

About the tax: According to CLSA’s newly released 2019 California Life Sciences Industry Report, California is home to 1,848 medical device firms employing over 81,000 people – more firms and employees than any other state in the nation – making the impact of the tax on our state particularly troublesome.

View the legislation.

• Learn more about the California life sciences industry
• View CLSA’s Legislative Action Center
• Watch CLSA’s Faces of California Biomedical Innovation Web Series
• View CLSA’s Advocacy Priorities
• View upcoming CLSA events

About California Life Sciences Association (CLSA)

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) is the state’s largest and most influential life sciences advocacy and business leadership organization. With offices in Sacramento, San Diego, South San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC, CLSA works closely with industry, government, academia and others to shape public policy, improve access to innovative technologies and grow California’s life sciences economy. CLSA serves biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics companies, research universities and institutes, investors and service providers throughout the Golden State. CLSA was founded in 2015 when the Bay Area Bioscience Association (BayBio) and the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) merged. Visit CLSA at www.califesciences.org, and follow us on Twitter @CALifeSciences, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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