'Botax' adds a new wrinkle to Barack Obama's battle to reform health care
November 20, 2009
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON–They call it the "Botax."
The White House and Senate Democrats have turned to a proposal to tax breast implants, tummy tucks, wrinkle-smoothing injections and other procedures as they search for ways to pay for costly health-care overhaul plans.
Vanity was an easy target as lawmakers scraped for cash for the nearly $1 trillion (U.S.) plan to expand health care to millions of Americans who lack insurance. But it's no joke to drug makers and people who perform cosmetic nips and tucks. And they're fighting back.
Skin-smoothing Botox injections could be hard hit. There were some 4.7 million last year at an average cost per visit of about $400.
"It is a random hit on an easy target that is only punitive and not corrective," said Caroline Van Hove, a spokeswoman for Allergan Inc., maker of Botox Cosmetic.
"The bottom line is that taxing cosmetic procedures is unnecessarily punitive on people who have merely decided to enhance their appearance."
At issue is a proposal in the 10-year, health-care draft unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, that would slap a 5 per cent excise tax on elective cosmetic surgeries and procedures. The plan, projected to raise $6 billion, wouldn't apply to surgery to fix a deformity or injury, but would include procedures such as facelifts, liposuction, cosmetic implants or teeth-whitening.
The plastic surgeons may have seemed like an appealing bunch to pick on given that they had already been skeptical of the Democrats' overhaul proposal. But they say it will be a blow to countless women – of every income level.
"The common misconception is that this is going to tax wealthy, suburban Republican women," said Dr. Phil Haeck of Seattle, Wash., president-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In fact, he said, of the 86 per cent of cosmetic surgery patients who are female, 60 per cent of them have incomes between $30,000 and $90,000.
In addition, Haeck said the tax would be especially hurtful in tough economic times that have prompted many newly jobless women to look for ways to make themselves more marketable to prospective employers. He said, "They're competing with people 10 to 15 years younger than them and they want to look better."
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