Protect American Healthcare: Why We Must Act Now on Tariffs
Keeping America Strong, Keeping America Healthy
Our nation's health relies on a sophisticated network of medical devices, advanced digital technologies, and essential supplies. From the AI hardware driving diagnostic breakthroughs to the telehealth platforms connecting rural patients with specialists, technology is revolutionizing healthcare delivery. However, many of these critical tools are manufactured overseas, and current tariff policies, without strategic exemptions, place American healthcare, our economy, and our national security at risk.
The Threat: Tariffs Impacting Critical Healthcare Sectors
Tariffs on imported goods essential to healthcare create significant challenges across several key areas:
Healthcare Infrastructure: Increased costs for foundational components can slow down the necessary upgrades and maintenance of hospitals and clinics, potentially hindering access to care, especially in vulnerable areas.
Medical Devices and Equipment: Tariffs directly inflate the costs of vital diagnostic tools, monitoring systems, and life-saving devices. This financial pressure can limit providers' ability to invest in the latest technologies, ultimately impacting the quality of patient care. While building domestic manufacturing is crucial, it takes time, and critically ill patients cannot wait.
Pharmaceuticals: Although not the primary focus of this specific initiative, tariffs can affect the complex pharmaceutical supply chain, impacting the cost and availability of necessary medications.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI holds immense promise for improving diagnostics, streamlining workflows, and reducing healthcare costs, with predicted net savings potentially reaching $360 billion. Tariffs on AI hardware and infrastructure used in clinical settings threaten to stifle this innovation, potentially causing the U.S. to lose ground to foreign competitors.
These cost increases don't just affect hospital budgets; they risk being passed on to American families already grappling with healthcare expenses. Furthermore, hindering investment in health technology—a sector where 75% of providers reported increasing budgets since 2019 — jeopardizes the advancements that improve care quality and efficiency. With healthcare accounting for over 17% of the U.S. GDP, the economic ripple effects are substantial.
A United Voice: The Need for Collective Action
Currently, the digital health community lacks a unified front to address this tariff challenge. The Center for Telehealth and eHealth Law (CTeL) is stepping up to be that gathering body, spearheading a national collective. Our focus is clear: petitioning the Department of Commerce for a specific, narrowly tailored tariff exemption for essential medical devices (specifically those under HS Codes 9018-9027 ), critical digital health and telehealth technologies, and the AI infrastructure vital to modern clinical care.
This isn't about loopholes; it's about smart, strategic policy. It's about ensuring our healthcare providers have the tools they need now while we strengthen domestic production capabilities for the future. It’s about keeping American patients safe, keeping our health businesses competitive, and ensuring America remains the world leader in healthcare innovation.
Join Us: Defend American Healthcare
Failure to act risks healthcare disruptions, spiraling costs, and a loss of competitive edge in vital technologies. We cannot let this happen.
CTeL is calling on:
Health systems and hospitals
Medical device manufacturers
Technology and AI companies
Policy advocates and business leaders
Your voice is crucial. We urge you to:
Become a CTeL Member: Join our growing community dedicated to advancing telehealth and digital health policy.
Sign the Letter: Add your organization's name to our formal petition to the Department of Commerce requesting these vital exemptions. You can review the letter and sign on by contacting us.
Together, we can send a powerful, unified message: Keep tariffs off critical healthcare tools. Protect America’s healthcare supply chain. Put patients, providers, and American innovation first.
This is common sense. This is pro-business. This is America First.
Get Involved: For more information, you can also reach out to Christa Natoli, christanatoli@ctel.org, or Lydia Homovich at LydiaH@ctel.org.