ASPS Calls for Action Against Elective Procedure Tax
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons sent out a special bulletin to members today, urging them to voice opposition to the so-called “Botox tax” that was included on the latest healthcare reform bill.
ASPS members were asked to contact their representatives in congress or login at capitolconnect.com to take action.
Who would be affected by this tax? The society is objecting to it on multiple levels, calling it discriminatory, arbitrary, and a “potential auditing nightmare” due to the often-unclear distinction between cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries.
While the tax could possibly harm the profession as a whole, the patients – who are overwhelmingly female – would pay a disproportionate amount of it and generate a projected 5 billion dollars over the next ten years.
Most of these women are middle class, working people.
The usual misperception is that only the rich and famous pursue cosmetic surgery. An ASPS survey revealed the contrary: 40 percent of cosmetic surgery patients in the their survey had incomes ranging from 30-60k; less than 10 percent were above 90k.
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