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The Ax on the Cosmetic Surgery Tax
By Dr. R. Jarial | January 7, 2010
Americans would continue to get cosmetic surgery tax-free if the Senate’s sweeping health care bill becomes law, but a trip to the tanning salon would cost 10% more.
After a lobbying campaign by plastic surgeons, the American Medical Association and the company that makes Botox, Senate Democrats pulled a proposed 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery from the latest draft of the bill unveiled this weekend.
In its place: A tanning bed tax that would start in July. The last-minute switch was cheered by cosmetic surgeons, but it left Dan Humiston with the Indoor Tanning Association feeling burned.
“We don’t have the war chest … the medical industry has,” said Humiston, who said the tax would be a financial hardship on the nation’s roughly 20,000 tanning salons. “We’re somebody who won’t fight back because we’re too small.”
The battle over the tax, which represents less than 1% of the 10-year, $871 billion cost of the health care legislation underscores the challenges lawmakers face as they look for ways to pay for expanding coverage.
The House proposal calls for a 5.4% income surtax on couples earning more than $1 million and individuals earning more than $500,000 a year. The Senate bill includes a 40% tax on so-called Cadillac health plans that cost more than $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families.
Dubbed the “Botax” on Capitol Hill, the levy on elective cosmetic surgery first appeared in the legislation in November. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the tax would raise $5.8 billion over 10 years.
Interest groups opposed the measure. California-based Allergan, the company that makes Botox, launched a website and a Facebook page to stop the tax. The company spent more than $1 million on lobbying in the first three-quarters of this year — before the tax became an issue — disclosure reports show.
Caroline Van Hove, a company spokeswoman, said the tax was discriminatory toward women and that it did nothing to reduce health care costs. “These are elective procedures that middle-class women are paying for out of their own pockets,” she said.
The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery engaged its 2,500 members and encouraged them to ask patients to contact Congress, said Steven Hopping, who sits on the academy’s board. “There was an outcry from many, many different sectors,” he said. “Apparently, it was heard.”
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