Stop the Bo-Tax with a Simple Phone Call
| Guest Post |
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| by Phil Haeck, MD |
 Dr. Haeck is a board-certified Plastic Surgeon who has practiced cosmetic and reconstructive surgery in Seattle for over 20 years. He serves as the President-Elect for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. |
For Christmas our United States Senators decided to give themselves a $6 Billion dollar present, all wrapped up and delivered in the name of Health Care Reform. That’s the dollar amount our elected officials calculated they could grab out of your and my pockets by taxing 5% on all things cosmetic.
There are 3 reasons to take a moment now and call 1-877-221-8207. That’s the number that routes you to your US Senators where you can say “Stop the Bo-tax”, you already pay enough taxes.
#1 Bo-taxes don’t add up
This concept is not new folks. New Jersey has the dubious reputation of being the only one of eight states to look at this and actually enact it into law. And what did the other states do?
They came to their senses when they saw what a disaster it was in Jersey. An independent audit of the New Jersey system found that it took $3.39 in expenditures just to collect a single dollar in tax. Multiply this over fifty states and you begin to get a picture of the nightmare this could become.
The tax includes wrinkle fillers and teeth whitening, but much more serious things like prophylactic mastectomy, male breast reduction and rhinoplasty, just to name a few procedures paid for out of the patient’s pocket and susceptible to this tax.
#2 Who should pay the Bo-tax? It’s not that simple
There are now tens of thousands of shipping addresses for botox; it is not just delivered to plastic surgeons and dermatologists anymore but family practice doctors, obstetricians and dentists have all jumped on the bandwagon. Figuring out who should pay the tax back into the U. S. treasury will be a total debacle! And that’s just for botox. How many dentists do teeth whitening? Probably over a hundred thousand?
#3 Your cosmetic procedure is a private decision
How do you audit this without it becoming an invasion of privacy? I get Botox and that to me this is a private matter between my plastic surgeon and me. I do not want people from the Federal Government peeking into my chart to find out if she paid the right amount.
Taking action – you will make a difference
If you agree this is a really bad idea you must act now by calling your Senator at 1-877-221-8207.
Over a thousand plastic surgeon have called their Senators. And what was the response from those offices in D.C. when these messages got through? “Until the patients call in large numbers we remain convinced it is okay to stay with the tax.” They figured the irate surgeons were calling just because they had a certain self-interest in the game.
But you, our patients, will get better notice. It is you that votes to re-elect them. Tell them you are not interested in voting for anyone who supported the Bo-Tax and things will change rapidly. It is the numbers that talk in D.C. and the Senators haven’t heard it loud enough yet!
Hint: when you call 1-877-221-8207, you will be prompted to key in your zip code. The program does the rest. It automatically figures out who your Senators are. You don’t even have to know anything else about them, but please, when it is time to record your message, tell ‘em how you really feel.
Thanks so much.
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This is an update to my post.
Last month it was revealed that the proposed sales tax on cosmetic surgery and wrinkle injections, the so-called “Bo-Tax,” was taken out of the Heath Care reform package in the U. S. Senate. It was replaced instead with a proposed 10% tax on all visits to tanning salons.
My reaction was both excitement and satisfaction knowing that a lot of hard work had paid off for everyone who recognized this would be a disaster if it had been passed. Of course I can’t resist one last chance to talk about it.
First of all, plastic surgeons everywhere need to give a big hearty thanks to all of the patients who took a moment to contact their Senators. The message that this was unfair to women was heard loud and clear. It is also apparent that whether you were male or female this was an issue that the majority of people in national poles around the country disagreed with.
But before the political deal making took place that eventually ended the tax for good a lot of hard work went into getting the issue to the forefront in the first place. Lobbyists from over a dozen national doctor’s associations converged in mass on the Senate’s doorsteps once the word of the tax got out.
In addition the manufacturers of breast implants and botulinin toxins and fillers also stepped up to the plate in D.C. to make themselves heard as well. And the national media, always looking for fresh debate on a controversial issue played right into the hands of the surgeons on this one.
I was personally interviewed by over two dozen reporters, both for print stories and radio. I was about ready to be interviewed on a national news broadcast but was unfortunately bumped by the Tiger Woods disaster at the last minute. Andy Warhol was right, everybody gets their fifteen minutes of fame eventually. Nevertheless the coverage of this story was immense and it picked up a life of its own. One interview for the Associated Press where I was quoted in two lines was published in over 250 newspapers around the country! It was the perfect storm for an issue that had never gotten national attention like this before.
Secondly, the Grassroots efforts stimulated by web sites such as this one, had a huge impact. With little time to spare, the coalition of medical associations built a web site specially milled up to tell patients how to contact their Senators and tell them what they thought of this tax. This involved a toll free number that got anyone who wanted to be heard directly connected to their Senator’s office, and plastic surgeons around the country got this out to their patients in mass.
So the end result of all of this spares plastic surgeons form becoming tax collectors, spares patients the agony of giving the government money just because they want to do something about their appearance, and puts a different tax on a self inflicted treatment that may cause cancer, and cost all of us more money to treat the offenders.
Once again, thanks to all who helped get the word out in November and December.