On December 20, 2019, the medical device industry — the folks who make everything from surgical gloves to prosthetic legs — breathed a sigh of relief. It was on that day that President Trump signed into law a spending package that, among other things, permanently repealed the medical device tax included in the original Affordable Care Act legislation. (It had been suspended since 2016, but was set to go back into effect.)

The 2.3 percent excise tax had become a source of ire for the industry, which had complained about its profits being sucked away to pay for the government’s health care overhaul.

“This is a great day for American patients, American jobs and American innovation: The medical device tax is officially history. With the end of this burdensome tax, the US medtech industry can do what it does better than anyone else in the world: develop life-changing innovations that save and improve patients’ lives, and create high-paying, high-tech jobs to keep the American economy booming,” Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of the Advanced medical Technology Association, said. “We thank President Trump and his administration for their strong support of medical innovation and for their leadership as we worked with Congress to repeal this onerous tax.”