President Obama signed the healthcare reform bill into law this morning, and that means new questions for medical device makers, mostly revolving around the tax levied on products.

According to Reuters, fees for medical device makers would be delayed to 2013 after initial bills called for 2010. Further, the total tax is reduced from an initial esitmate of $40 billion, down to $20 billion. In addition, last-minute changes to the bill converted an overall industry fee to a 2.3% sales tax except for certain retail products sold for individual use.

The new excise tax could hurt the sale of medical devices, reports Ryan Cole, Contributing Editor, Taipan Publishing Group. The question is, he says, will the increase in covered patients—and, presumably, health services doled out —balance  the depressed sales caused by the excise tax? "That issue may not be resolved for a few years," he says.

Reuters, however, puts medical device makers squarely in the winner's box with the passage of the bill. The mandate that all citizens must have health insurance increases the pool of consumers, so device makers should expect business to grow.