Beauty Newswire

Taxes on lipo, Botox, mesotherapy, lipodissolve,  breast augmentation, you name it and the Government wants to tax it. Nose jobs, breast enhancements, tummy tucks and liposuction could be hit with a ten per cent tax to help foot the bill of Barack Obama’s $1 trillion overhaul of the health care system.

I guess the government thinks that anyone who gets any cosmetic procedure is rich and can afford it, but that is far from the truth. Most patients are hard working middle class people who make less than 100K per year.  And what about procdures that are medically necessary like breast reductions for back pain, deviated septium for breathing problems, reconstructive surgery and more.

Do we want the government making these decisions on what is medically necessary?

Max Baucus, the chairman of the senate finance committee which is drawing up one of several versions of a health care reform bill, described the proposed cosmetic surgery tax as “interesting”, “creative” and “kind of fun”.

Americans last year spent $10.3 billion (£6.3 billion) on 12.1 million operations or procedures to improve their looks or replace the hair on their heads.

Five million doses of wrinkle-reducing Botox were injected at an average cost of $500, while 307,230 women had their breasts enlarged for an average $3,816. Nearly 245,138 people had excess fat sucked out of their body, while 121,653 tummy tucks were performed.

Intended as a tax on the rich, the plan would cover all procedures that are currently not tax deductible and are not commonly covered by health insurance.

Tax deductions are allowed on procedures such as reconstructive surgery due to cancer, but nose jobs, liposuction, teeth whitening and hair implants would be subject to the new tax.

Critics have said it would give doctors the “bureaucratic nightmare” of deciding whether the tax was applicable, and would also discriminate against women, who make up 86 per cent of cosmetic surgery patients.

Other critics have said the tax would unfairly target the middle class.

Malcolm Roth, a vice president at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons who has a practice in New York, said most patients earn less than $100,000 a year.

“Typically I see women who have had children and want a tummy tuck or liposuction – they call it a ‘mummy makeover’. People literally scrimp and save for years and wait until they are 40 or 50 and want to give themselves a present.”

Several states have looked at a similar tax, but only New Jersey has gone ahead. It has, however, reportedly only achieved 25 per cent of the forecast revenue and two years ago voted to repeal the law. The repeal was later vetoed by Governor John Corzine.

The problem of funding health care reform has dogged Mr Obama’s effort to change a system that is widely regarded to be failing too many members of the public.

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