Help fight a bad idea!! Congress is soon to debate the Health Care Reform Bill, which is a great move towards increasing the number of insured Americans. Unfortunately, it is filled with several bad ideas, like a taxation on patients who undergo cosmetic surgery.
This has been attempted previously in New Jersey, and has failed miserably- A government auditor will be the one to decide whether your surgery is cosmetic or reconstructive, a necessity or a luxury. This tax additionally discriminates against women and the middle class, who are the two groups most likely to undergo aesthetic surgery. Finally and most concerning, this taxation will encourage more patients to go overseas for their plastic surgery, inevitably resulting in more complications in patients returning to the US. With treatment of these medical and surgical complications, health care spending with respect to these botched plastic surgeries is likely to INCREASE, rather than decrease.
Please- email and call your congressional representatives and Senators, and encourage them to oppose this taxation- it’s not only unfair, but unsafe for Americans.
Effective ways to reach your Members of Congress include:
- Call your Senators and Representative’s District Office this week. Most legislators are home this week for the holiday break.
- Call Your Senator and Representative’s Washington, DC Office (early and often).
- E-Mail Your Senators.
- For Patients: The U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-225-3121 where your patients can be connected to their Senators and Representatives. NOTE: The patient must know the name of their Senator prior to calling the switchboard; this information can be found at www.senate.gov (scroll by state). They can determine the name of their representative by going to www.house.gov where they can enter their zip code.
