Dr. Hetzler has formed the Coalition of New Jersey Medical Professionals, a group of medical providers affected by the tax. The coalition is working with state taxation officials to figure out how to implement various aspects of the regulation, including the issue of how to tax procedures that are only partly cosmetic.
The coalition has little hope that the tax will be repealed, especially in the face of the state's large budget deficit, Dr. Hetzler said. But he is pleased that taxation officials have been cooperative and are willing to work with the coalition “to make sure that they don't indiscriminately audit physicians who may be at the mercy of patients paying this tax.”
Naomi Lawrence, M.D., a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology, said that she was concerned that the tax idea may spread to other states.
“Everybody's looking for a way to cover charity care; they are desperate to find some way to do it,” said Dr. Lawrence, chief of procedural dermatology at Cooper University Hospital, Marlton, N.J. “It's one of those ideas that's very popular with hospital associations across the country.”
Dr. D'Amico agreed, noting that New Jersey's tax, which was passed without any input from affected providers, should serve as a warning to providers in other states. “They should be careful in whatever state they're in that this doesn't come up,” he said.