The New York Times says that plastic surgeons and their patients are angered by Senate proposal of a 5% surtax on certain types of elective surgery:
The tax, which would be paid by the customer but collected by doctors, would be levied on any cosmetic surgery that is not necessary to address deformities arising from congenital abnormalities, personal injuries resulting from an accident or trauma, or disfiguring diseases, a definition taken directly from current tax code covering deductible medical expenses.
The proposal — called the Bo-Tax, in a play on the name of Botox, the popular wrinkle-eliminating treatment — has outraged plastic surgeons, who say they are being singled out because of an outdated perception that people who have cosmetic procedures are well-to-do.
The 7,000-member American Society of Plastic Surgeons said its internal surveys showed that 60 percent of members’ patients earn less than $90,000 a year.
“A lot of people think of this as a tax on rich Republican housewives; rich, nonworking Republican housewives,” said Dr. Phil Haeck, the group’s president-elect. “And that’s not the case.”
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