The economic conditions have had quite an effect on many industries and cosmetic plastic surgery is no exception. The downturn in liposuction procedures and indicative of slower consumer spending but recent news of an additional tax on plastic surgery procedures could mean more trouble for some.
Thursday, November 19, 2009 the US Senate Democrats unveiled a plan to impose a five-percent tax as part of the health care overhaul. It is expected to raise an estimate 5.8 billion dollars over the next 10 years to help pay for the 849-billion-dollar plan.
For a long time the factors that determined the cost of liposuction remained relatively unchanged baring new techniques and developments. This tax will definitely affect some people’s decisions about undergoing the knife since elective plastic surgery procedures, including liposuction, are typically not covered by health insurance and paid by the patient.
The plan targets elective procedures meaning any corrective surgery to remedy deformities caused by congenital abnormality, injury, or disease will be excluded from the new tax. The tax is expected to go into effect beginning January 2010.
Growth of the plastic surgery market as a whole has not been hampered as hard by the recession as many would presume. Small procedures such as Botox injections have seen an eight percent rise but other procedures such as breast augmentations have been down 12 percent between 2007 and 2008.
Liposuction procedures have decreased by as much as 25 percent as stated by the ASAPS. There are many reasons to explain the slowdown. Banks have largely denied credit for most patients and procedures popular with younger women such as liposuction and breast augmentation are feeling the impact since younger women tend to pay for their procedures with credit.
Fears about their income and taking time off work have also played a role in many patients’ decision not to undergo liposuction and other plastic surgery procedures.
On the bright side, lower demand invariable should equate to lower prices. While this is not true across the board as the cost of liposuction procedures have remained pretty consistent, any shopper looking hard enough is sure to come across a deal that does not compromise the quality of service.