Okay, you probably know my stance on the 2.3% tax due to go into affect in 2013 affecting medical device companies. We’ve written blogs about this before. Also, you can see on my current LinkedIn profile picture that I have a “No 2.3%” banner on my photo. I do not support this tax, and suspect there are very few in the medical device community who are.

Regardless, I’m starting to get tired of story after story about how this tax is having a negative impact on the growth and plans of the big medical device companies. I’m getting sick of reading about how big medical device companies had to layoff hundreds of people to prepare for the tax. Or how big medical device companies have scrapped U.S. expansion plans because of the tax. I just don’t buy it.

As stated above, I do not support the tax. But at the same time, I do not believe this tax will make or break any of the big medical device companies. I personally believe the 2.3% tax is a convenient excuse these companies can use and blame. Being in a presidential election year where the economy and jobs are on the forefront, these moves are definitely politically motivated.

I do fear, though, how this tax will impact the smaller companies. The tax on medical device startups and mom-and-pops will have a negative impact. The tax will hamper these smaller entities from realizing full profitability or even delay them from profitability all together.

I came across NO 2.3%, a website dedicated to educating the public on the medical device tax which resulted from the infamous healthcare reform act. There is a petition to sign too. They are attempting to get 25K signatures on the petition. Please help spread the word.