Fake and bakers are S.O.L. when the new health care proposal kicks in- page 902 of the bill calls for a 10% tax on tanning sessions. Originally, the bill contained provisions for a 5% tax on plastic surgery, but due to opposition from the cosmetic surgery lobby, that part of the bill was scuttled and the tax on the tanning was added in.

According to ABC, roughly 28 million Americans use tanning beds each year, which is close to 10% of the population of the United States. A spokesman for one of the industry’s largest manufacturers of tanning beds stated, “If you’re going to tax us, you should tax the travel industry and the cruise industry which also profit from sun worshippers.”

I understand the main gist of his point, but do find his statement more than a little ridiculous.  I dispute the fact that Fake and Bakers are in the same class as “Sun Worshippers” or cruise ship passengers given the fact that tanning beds use artificial lights (and not sun rays) and are readily available to a wide demographic for a cheap price throughout the year. Plus, if I’m not mistaken, the sole purpose of tanning beds is to quickly bronze (and cook) your skin.  

The main reason given by the cosmetic surgery industry lobbyists when trying to eliminate the so-called 5% Botox tax on plastic surgery was that it was an unfair tax on women as women of ages 35-50 are usually the patients for plastic surgery. While that may be true, others are arguing that tanning beds are also mostly used by women and consider this a disproportionate tax as well.

The tanning industry may not have received its final blow yet- the lobbying arm of the dermatologists association is trying to get tanning beds banned from the United States altogether. Additionally, the FDA is considering regulating the tanning bed industry further in order to increase the safety for the “Artificial Light Worshippers”.

While the 10% tax may stop some from tanning, and might hurt some small businesses, I really don’t think that the death of the self-tanning industry would really be all that big of a deal. Wow- less people might get skin cancer, and we might have to look at some white faces, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.