News and Politics | November 21, 2009 | 7 comments

Senate's healthcare plan includes tax on Botox

source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/washington/story/79251.html

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Future_America
If you're considering Botox to erase frown lines or liposuction to get rid of love handles, you might want to move fast. The "botax" may be on the way.

The $848 billion health care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., unveiled Wednesday includes a 5 percent tax on cosmetic procedures and surgeries. The tax, which would take effect in January, would raise an estimated $5 billion over the next decade to help pay for extending health care coverage to millions of Americans.

Plastic surgeons decried the proposal, saying the recession has battered their practices and they're just beginning to recover.

About 12 million cosmetic procedures and surgeries — which insurance typically doesn't cover — were performed last year, at a total cost of $10.3 billion, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The vast majority, 10.4 million, were minimally invasive services such as Botox injections and chemical peels. The most common surgeries were breast augmentation, liposuction and tummy tucks, but all those procedures declined at double-digit rates last year.

New Jersey, where a 6 percent levy on cosmetic procedures and surgeries took effect in 2005, is the only state with such a tax. Doctors there say many patients go to neighboring New York or Pennsylvania for the most expensive procedures to avoid the tax, which has brought in about $11 million a year, only about half as much as expected.

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7 comments // Senate's healthcare plan includes tax on Botox

  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • iPedro
    • 0
      iPedro  

    • I think it's a good way to pay for Health Care Reform. It's an elective luxury procedure and people already spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on cosmetic procedures can surely afford a 5% tax.

    • 2 years ago
  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  

    • I for one cannot envision the reason behind having a poison injected under your skin to smooth out wrinkles.
      It is a luxury item. Many states have an added tax on luxury items....high end cars, boats, etc.
      If you can afford to pay to have poison injected under your skin, you can pay a tax.

    • 2 years ago
  • sunspot01
    • 0
      sunspot01  

    • Now wait a second. I don't like plastic surgery/ vanity surgery, but I don't think it's right to tax procedures that insurance companies wouldn't cover anyway. These type of procedures aren't the cause of our current health care issue.

    • 2 years ago
  • Daimyo
    • 0
      Daimyo  
    • sunspot01:

      Surgery is very hard on the heart, and overall it causes more health problems in the long run. Including bad procedures may lead to healthcare.. Its a good idea. Maybe its time to run off that extra fat or start eating healthy now instead of relying on technology to take your early wrinkles away.

    • 2 years ago
  • CreditFigaro
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