After reeling from the backlash of angry constituents, congress has decided to ax portions of the health care bill that would tax elective cosmetic surgical procedures. Senate Democrats pulled the proposed 5% tax from the latest draft of the bill over the weekend.

Clearly this new form of taxation is discriminatory against women in general who use elective procedures to enhance their appearances and does nothing to reduce health care costs. Typically, elective cosmetic procedures are paid out of pocket and not insurance.

In place of the botax a new tanning tax was added that would go in affect in July of 2010. Anyone receiving services from tanning salons would be left with the bill. This new tax would affect over 20,000 tanning salons across the nation and which only represents less than 1% of 871 billion cost of the health care bill over a ten year period.

These types of bills raise serious concerns that other health care related services could be taxed in the future.