For anyone thinking of erasing frown lines with the help of Botox, or getting rid of extra fat with liposuction should get them done before the $848-billion health care bill unveiled Wednesday comes into effect. The new bill includes, a 5% tax to come into effect January on all cosmetic surgeries and procedures, and which is expected to raise an estimated $5-billion over the next decade, helping pay for extending health care coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.

Plastic surgeons are devastated over the proposal saying, the recession has already battered their practices severely, and they are just beginning to recover from its adverse effects.

Others are worried that after cosmetic surgery the tax will be applied to an increasing number of other procedures, such as, laser eye surgery, knee-replacement surgery, etc.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, insurance does not cover the 12-million cosmetic procedures and surgeries performed at a total cost of $10.3-billion, last year. The vast majority of the
10.4-million involved minimally-invasive services like Botox injections and chemical peels, with breast augmentation, liposuction and tummy tucks, some of the most common surgeries.

New Jersey, the only state to apply the tax that took effect in 2005, levies a 6% surcharge on cosmetic procedures and surgeries like hair transplants, cosmetic injections, dermabrasion, laser hair removal, laser skin resurfacing, laser treatment of leg veins, cosmetic dentistry and breast augmentation. To avoid the tax, many patients go to New York or Pennsylvania for the most expensive procedures.

And, it is not the rich only who are going in for plastic surgery, but given the wider availability of less costly and invasive procedures and increased financing options, many middle-class people are also opting for the procedures.