Know what's really scary about the health care reform currently being applauded, and denounced, on the Hill? No, it's not death panels, or health care rationing, or Medicare cuts, or paying for abortions. It's the audacity of lawmakers to think they can tax our cosmetic surgery!
Whether you're getting your nose shaven, your vagina rejuvenated, your crow's feet stretched, your forehead de-wrinkled, your ass enlarged, and your entire body lifted, expect to pay a 5 percent retainer to the federal government. Part of the Senate's heath care bill includes a 5 percent tax on all elective cosmetic surgery, with the goal of raising an estimated $6 billion.
And it already has a cute name: "the Botax."
You can be damn sure the plastic surgery lobby — including trade groups like the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons — is already on the defense. They're arguing that the tax is not a surcharge on the rich who upgrade their bodies, as lawmakers claim, because plenty of lower-earning Americans are also tired of varicose veins. That, and the tax is discriminatory — against women! Since women make up 90 percent of cosmetic surgery patients, the 5 percent levy unfairly targets the fairer sex.
Interesting, then, that it's the Senate's women who are expected to cast the deciding votes. Will Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe stand for such aesthetic injustices?
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are they also considering gender reassignment surgery "elective"? That doesn't seem right to me
Do we really have to see pictures of fat people? Please stop.
I'm not even impressed by the post-lipo pic either.
The Federal Government: Never met a private industry they didn't love…to suck dry.
That guy's plump, not fat. Trust me, I know fat.
That guy barely improved from the first picture to the second; what a waste of money.
Where did you get that before/after picture from? No offense but it is pretty standard practice to quote sources of pictures used from other sites, especially if you site runs ads, and takes in revenue.
Best way I can think of to finance health care reform.
who knew that having liposuction tans your skin too!!!
People are so derisive about cosmetic surgery, but it's not all Barbie getting big tits and Rachel getting an Irish nose. There are lots of people with mild-moderate disfigurements who benefit greatly from being able to correct them.
I guess the picture on the left is the new "average?" No wonder we can't afford healthcare.
Having had cosmetic surgery myself, I think a tax on aesthetic procedures is a fair and practical means of providing necessary medical treatment for those who cannot afford it.
If you have enough money to shell out for cosmetic surgery, you should be paying tax on it. How selfish can we be? This isn't a matter of discriminating against aesthetics, it's a tax that should have been in place years ago. As an American, I'm ashamed at how we allow people to die for lack of basic health care.
Kurt wrote:
"Best way I can think of to finance health care reform."
I totally agree with you!
A better way to fund tax care reform would be more lifestyle taxes… like McDonalds and soda pop, and ETOH. But yea, I don't mind a reasonable tax on elective cosmetic work. (and yes, I have had a small amount of work done and will have more as I age).