Affordable Health Insurance, Expensive Tans
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The Senate is one vote away from passing healthcare reform. Democrats overcame a major hurdle when they managed to garner the votes of 60 senators. Majority Leader Harry Reid had to broker many compromises among his party to avoid a Republican filibuster. One of the primary concerns expressed by moderate Democrats is the cost of the legislation, and its impact on the national debt. As it stands, affordable health insurance reform will increase the deficit by several trillion dollars–although supporters believe that it will eventually result in a reduction of the deficit. In order to pay for it, the bill includes a tax on indoor tanning salon services.
Costs associated with healthcare reform have been a key factor looming over the debate. They are one of the main reasons liberal Democrats had to scrap the public option in the Senate. That government-run plan was intended as a way provide affordable health insurance to millions of Americans unable to buy a plan on the open market. Ideally, it would serve as competition that would spur private health insurance companies to reduce inefficiencies and lower their prices. Beyond philosophical objections to the very concept of increased federal involvement, such a program would cost billions to establish, while it would be unavailable for several years.
Even without the public option, the Senate bill is packed with hundreds of pages of health insurance regulations. There will be federal subsidies available to eligible individuals and families. These subsidies are intended to increase the population’s access to affordable health insurance in exchange markets; much funding will be required to pay out the subsidies. In addition, more Americans barely hovering above the poverty level will now be eligible for Medicaid.
Tax increases are notoriously unpopular with the American public. While there are some increases in the tax rates of the so-called rich (an individual earning more than $500,000 annually, or a couple earning over $1 million per year), the majority of the money must be scrounged up through other means. There is only so much to cut in Medicare, after all. Taxes on certain actions that the nation wants to discourage, such as cigarette smoking, are relatively non-controversial.
Therefore, if the Senate’s version of the bill remains intact in committee, a half-hour in a tanning bed will become more expensive. Specifically, there will be an additional 10% sales tax levied on the usage of indoor tanning salons. Most likely, this cost will be passed onto the consumer. Supporters of the tax point to the fact that excessive exposure to UV rays–whether real or artificial–is the leading cause of skin cancer. Melanoma often requires costly treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Insurance companies have to cover these medical expenses. The increased prevalence of serious illnesses, including melanoma, that are typically covered by insurers, makes affordable health insurance more difficult to find. If the usage of tanning beds decreases as a result of this tax, health care costs would also decrease.
How much money will the tax bring in to pay for healthcare reform? Predictions are that the tanning tax will raise $2.7 billion towards affordable health insurance in the next decade. That figure is significant, but it pales in comparison to the Democrats’ original proposal, which would tax elective cosmetic surgery. While the latter tax would only be 5% of the purchase price, far more individuals undergo plastic surgery and procedures such as Botox each year. That tax was successfully eliminated from the draft through pressure from strange bedfellows, including both plastic surgeon lobbying groups and feminist organizations; it was replaced at the last minute by the tanning measure.
Like the scuttled “Bo-Tax”, the new tanning salon tax does not apply towards procedures deemed medically necessary or re-constructive: unlike the services provided by most tanning salons not run by medical personnel, ultraviolet phototherapy provided by a licensed medical practitioner is exempt. Other than that, it appears that spray tans will be a growth industry post-healthcare reform. Since skin cancer patients will now be able to find affordable health insurance available to them despite their pre-existing condition, it is hoped that this tax will work to stem the tide of melanoma sufferers in need of costly treatments.
(Image: zieak under CC 2.0) Yamileth Medina is an up and coming expert on Health Insurance and Healthcare Reform. She aims to help people realize that they can find affordable health insurance right now while waiting for a public option, if it ever gets passed. Yamileth lives in Miami, FL. Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/affordable-health-insurance-expensive-tans-1614158.html
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