Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) acknowledged Obamacare's medical device tax could be on the negotiating table with congressional Republicans Tuesday on CNN's New Day.
"We can work on something, I believe, on the medical device tax," he said. "That was one of the proposals from Republicans, as long as we replace the revenue so that we don't put a hole in our deficit and respond to this in a responsible fashion. That's one thing the Republicans want to talk about. Let's sit down and put that on the table."
The medical device tax is a 2.3% excise tax created to in part fund Obamacare and went into effect at the beginning of 2013. The tax is largely considered unpopular, including among some Democrats whose states harbor medical device employers. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, for example,penned an op-ed for a trade magazine last year while she was running for the Senate.
House Republicans attached a repeal of the tax, along with a one-year delay of Obamacare, to one of the short-term spending bills, also known as a continuing resolution, it sent to the Senate in the last few days. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would not negotiate over Obamacare as long as it's attached to the spending bill.