A 2.3% excise tax on medical devices is among the many aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) likely to be repealed during the current congressional session. The tax was collected starting in 2013, with the intention of offsetting expected ACA-driven profits for companies benefiting from expanded federally-funded Medicare and Medicaid payments. However, Congress passed a two-year repeal of the tax that was enacted in 2015 in an effort led by legislators representing states, like Minnesota, with robust medical device industries. According to the Star Tribune, "With [medical device excise tax] collections set to start again in January 2018, [Republican GOP Representative Erik] Paulsen is going for the coup de grace with a GOP-controlled House, Senate and White House that have made repealing the ACA a top priority." The article notes that the bill's co-sponsors, Paulsen and Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind, "adopted the industry’s talking points in opposing the tax as a job killer that also took money away from research and development."