Senate considers 10% tax on plastic surgery to pay for healthcare reform

In a town where everyone is trying to find the funds to pay for President Obama's ambitious effort to reform healthcare -- currently estimated to cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years --  it was probably inevitable that someone would zero in on plastic surgery.

Americans spend a bundle every year on face-lifts, tummy tucks, breast implants, nose jobs, hair plugs and the like. In fact, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery says we cough up about $12.4 million a year on cosmetic procedures.

See above, the "after" picture on Michael Jackson's infamous face work.

So earlier this month, when Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus scratched heads with Budget Director Peter Orszag over how to pay for Obamacare, the idea was on the table. Baucus emerged from the meeting to tell reporters he had heard some "interesting," "creative" and "kind of fun" ideas on how to finance the massive overhaul of the nation's healthcare system.

Not everyone thinks the tax will make much of a dent in healthcare costs. Malcolm Roth, vice president for health policy and advocacy at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, said a similar tax in New Jersey  only brought in about 25% of the funds lawmakers expected when they passed it in 2004.

A plastic surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., Roth also tried to make cosmetic procedures more politically correct. He disputed that the tax would hurt the wealthy, arguing that most patients save for years for treasured procedures. Plus, he said, the tax would discriminate against women, who make up 86% of the patient list.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Getty Images

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Comments

[Stop Botax]

The medical aesthetics industry is under attack!

The US Government is pushing for 10% Plastic Surgery Tax on cosmetic procedures which are not deemed medically necessary.

This includes Botox, Liposuction, Rhinoplasty, Teeth Whitening, Face Lift, Tummy Tuck and more!

Your action is needed now! Help us stop the 10% Plastic Surgery Tax!

Sign the STOP Bo-Tax petition today!

http://www.stopbotax.org/

[breast reconstructive surgery]

That idea would have slowed down plastic surgery occurrence a lot. I think the industry is already pretty low from the recession.

[CAPlastic Surgeon]

That's actually not a bad idea. Most of the people that get plastic surgery are affluent anyway. The others should have medical insurance to help pay for it. I think just raising the cost of cigarettes and alcohol taxes would be a better idea though.