New health care bill imposes tax on tanning beds

Getty ImagesThough many of us are excited about the new health care bill, some adjustments are being made to help fund the expensive reforms. One such moneymaker is a newly imposed tax on ultraviolet tanning at salons. Customers who receive treatments after July 1 will be charged a 10% tax on tanning beds (spray tans and tanning lotions are excluded), which is supposed to raise $2.7 billion over the next decade.

Naturally, salon owners and tanning customers are annoyed about the tax. Jan Meshon, owner of City Sun Tanning in New York City, is worried about his business declining. "We'll do everything to keep our customers, but they are very upset by this," says Meshon. He says the average tanning session lasts 10 minutes and costs around $15 to $20. "An extra 10% on top of that is definitely not helpful...all of our customers would like to spend less already." Regular tanner Adrienne Zarisky says she will still be a loyal customer at her local salon because it's "cheaper than having to take sunny vacations three times a year."

Joseph Levy, the vice president of the International Smart Tan Network, which has 3,000 salons, is convinced the new tax may kill the tanning industry. "You can't just pass on a tax like this to customers and not have it hurt your bottom line," says Levy. Meanwhile, the Indoor Tanning Association has launched Stopthetantax.com, a place where salon owners and costumers can commiserate and reach out to state representatives against the tax.

With our awareness of the dangers of indoor tanning and the rise of skin cancer as a direct result of such tanning beds, we can't say we're upset about this tax. Perhaps imposing this extra fee on indoor tanning will prevent men and women from aging and damaging their skin over time. While we do feel sorry for salon owners and employees who may be negatively affected by this tax, customers who wish to give their skin a glow can still do so in a more health-conscious manner with untaxed spray tanning or self-tanning lotions.

Do you use tanning beds? If so, will you make less visits to the salon as a result of this added tax? If you do not use tanning beds, how do you feel about the addition of this tax? [CNN]