House Panel Kicks Off Three Day Hearing Series On Potential Regulations and Taxes on Smartphones, Tablets, and Mobile Apps

The House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), kicked off the “Health Information Technologies” hearing series to discuss the critical role of technology in the health care industry and how federal regulations and taxes could impact patients, hinder innovation, and increase costs for consumers.

In July 2011, the FDA proposed regulating mobile medical apps. In early March, committee leaders wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg seeking more information on possible FDA regulation of smartphones, tablets, and mobile apps through Obamacare's medical device tax, which could harm the innovation and economic benefits of the U.S. mobile marketplace.