Americans are frustrated, and rightly so, by Washington’s lack of progress in spurring job creation and economic growth. While the economy is slowly climbing back from the 2008 recession, the president and Democratic-controlled Senate have failed to get our economy moving again, refusing to allow votes on even common-sense, bipartisan reforms. Republicans now have a chance to show Americans that the party has ideas and can get things done.

Here’s a great way to start: Repeal ObamaCare’s medical-device tax. The Affordable Care Act hamstrings medical innovation by imposing a 2.3% excise tax on the sale of medical devices such as defibrillators and operating-room monitors. Businesses that often make lifesaving products now have to pay one of the highest effective tax rates of any industry in the world. The U.S. is the only country that imposes an excise tax on medical-device companies.

The federal government levies similar excise taxes on products such as alcohol and tobacco to discourage their use. Should we really be using the same type of tax on ultrasound machines, pacemakers, insulin pumps, heart valves, artificial hips, X-ray machines and ventilators?

Furthermore, the medical device industry employs more than 400,000 people across the country, including more than 35,000 in my home state of Minnesota. These high-tech manufacturing jobs are an essential part of economic recovery.

The medical-device tax has already cost as many as 33,000 American jobs, according to a 2013 Advanced Medical Technology Association study. More jobs could be eliminated or move overseas in the coming years. These are well-paying jobs: A device-development engineer in Indiana, for example, has a starting salary of about $70,000.

Even worse, many of the hardest-hit companies are small businesses. About 80% of device companies have fewer than 50 employees, according to the Commerce Department. Many produce only one or two devices; and most don’t turn a profit for 10-15 years, relying on investment and the promise of future earnings to survive. Since the medical-device tax is levied on sales, not profits, the tax can decide whether a small business makes money in a given year. A study in the September issue of the Harvard Business Reviewfound that the medical-device industry faces more uncertainty than any other field.

The American medical-technology industry is a success story: U.S. medical exports doubled between 1998 and 2008, to $33 billion annually. We often hear that America needs to “start making things again” to help jump-start the economy. But with ideas like the medical-device tax, it’s easy to see how innovation is discouraged.

Consumers suffer from the medical-device tax in the form of increased prices: A young mother will have to take on an extra shift to pay for her ultrasound, a grandmother will have to dip further into her retirement funds for a lifesaving pacemaker, and a family will be forced to tighten their budget to pay for an insulin pump for a diabetic child.

The good news is that both Republicans and Democrats recognize that the medical-device tax is harming our economy and stifling innovation. My legislation to repeal the tax passed the House 253-163 in September as part of a jobs package, with the support of 32 Democrats. Seventy-nine senators voted to repeal the tax in a nonbinding resolution in March of 2013, but Majority Leader Harry Reid has refused to allow a vote. That will change in January with new Senate leadership.

Congress and communities across the nation continue to debate and discuss ways to make health care more effective and affordable. But we should all agree that policies that punish innovators and hurt patients shouldn’t be a part of the plan.

Mr. Paulsen, a Republican, represents Minnesota’s third congressional district.