Tanning Beds Back in the News for Tax, Health Reasons

12/29/2009

Tanning beds have been in the news recently because members of the U.S. Senate recently proposed a tax on indoor tanning services as a way to help pay for the healthcare reform bill currently pending in Congress.

The proposal has touched off controversy from at least one group representing the tanning salon industry. According to a New York Times report, senators have also proposed a tax on elective cosmetic procedures, which has touched off a further lobbying effort by the maker of Botox.

Both organizations claim that the tax would place a disproportionate burden on women, since more of them use such services and also tend to own more companies specializing in things like tanning.

However, before the current debate emerged in the closing days of the healthcare reform debate, tanning beds were making news for a far different reason. That's because this summer, the World Health Organization announced that ultraviolent-emitting tanning beds were ranked among the top level in the various radiation-related cancer risks.

The Skin Cancer Foundation has expressed support for a 10 percent tax on tanning services as a way to potentially save lives, and recently posted a report on its website noting that Howard County, Maryland has become the first jurisdiction in the U.S. to ban people under the age of 18 from using indoor tanning devices.

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