First device tax payment: $97 million

The major trade association for America's medical technology companies, AdvaMed, reported Tuesday that the country's first payment of a new medical device tax came to $97 million across the country.

Twice-monthly deposits of a 2.3 percent tax on device makers' revenue are designed to help pay for changes in the federal health care overhaul.

Medical device companies in Minnesota and around the country lobbied extensively to kill the tax before it took effect on Jan. 1, but failed. Opponents still hope to repeal or reduce the tax.

The money spent on the tax "would have otherwise been available to invest in research and development and American job growth," AdvaMed said in a news release.

AdvaMed did not break down the individual tax payments of companies such as Minnesota med-tech giants Medtronic or St. Jude Medical.