The Health Care Plan Needs A Facelift?

So, Drudge is headlining that Congress is contemplating an excise tax on cosmetic surgery. I'm not quite sure what they think that will accomplish. It certainly means that the rich will still get their tummy tucks and face lifts and all other manner of procedure because they can afford them, but the middle class will once again get squeezed, along with the doctors who provide this kind of service.

They might want to look at New Jersey. New Jersey passed a cosmetic medical surgical procedure excise tax a few years back (2004 to be exact). It's a 6% tax on cosmetic medical procedures but the kicker is that those procedures that serve to prevent or treat illness or disease or promote proper functioning of the body are exempt from the tax.

Cosmetic medical procedures are medical procedures performed in order to improve the human subject’s appearance without significantly serving to prevent or treat illness or disease or to promote proper functioning of the body. The law provides that such procedures include, for example, cosmetic surgery, hair transplants, cosmetic injections, cosmetic soft tissue fillers, dermabrasion and chemical peels, laser hair removal, laser skin resurfacing, laser treatment of leg veins, sclerotherapy, and cosmetic dentistry. They do not include reconstructive surgery or dentistry to correct or minimize abnormal structures caused by congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, trauma, infection, tumors, or disease, including procedures performed in order to improve function or give the person a more normal appearance. The tax also applies to amounts charged for goods or facility occupancies, such as hospitalization or clinic stays, required for or directly associated with the cosmetic medical procedure.

A nose job could be considered necessary to improve the proper functioning of the body. Ditto gastric bypass or some other common types of plastic surgery.

Tummy tucks and face lifts? Not so much, though I'm sure someone would be creative and get those exempted from the tax.

New Jersey doesn't exactly get a whole lot of money from that tax. In 2007, it got just under $12 million; $10 million in 2006, and just about $7.5 million in 2005.

This is what's going to save the health care plan?