Just call the Senate “the Grinch That Stole Tanning.”
“It’s one of these things that happened in the middle of the night behind closed doors. We knew nothing about it,” Indoor Tanning Association Executive Director John Overstreet told Yeas & Nays.
That’s right. The Senate recently slapped on a dirty little package of amendments to its health care reform wish list, and that includes a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning. Burn.
Overstreet said he saw the tax as a direct attack on women, who primarily frequent and staff tanning salons.
As for Overstreet’s take on why Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., removed the 5 percent Botox tax and replaced it with tanning levy: “[The tanning industry] were thrown under the bus to protect the rich doctors and their clients who are spending multiple thousands of dollars on Botox.”
Replacing tanning for Botox was a big win for the American Medical Association, which has been advocating for removal of the “Botax.”
“We are pleased that the manager’s amendment addresses several issues of concern to AMA,” AMA President-elect Dr. Cecil B. Wilson said in a news release Monday. “It eliminates the tax on physician services for cosmetic surgery. …”
Though Reid may not appreciate the need for a year-round glow, he discounted the concerns of his undersunned colleagues from the north.
The office of House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, did not respond to Yeas & Nays with his take on the tanning tax.
