Debating health care bill, GOP congressman asks why Democrats haven’t proposed a tax on the sun

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Tanning beds became part of the House debate over health care on Wednesday. (Getty Images)
Tanning beds became part of the House debate over health care on Wednesday. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Republican plan to repeal Obamacare was approved by the House Ways and Committee in the early Thursday, capping an 18-plus-hour debate over the legislation. And the marathon session was not without its testy moments.

Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., argued that the “tanning tax” imposed by former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act unfairly targets American women who use indoor tanning beds.

“What I found on Google is roughly 80 percent of who’s taxed is women,” Smith said. “Today is International Women Day. It’s interesting that no one is bringing that up.”

“Whoever decided to impose this tax seven years ago, before I was here, I’d be quite curious of why did they just randomly pick this tax to have it paid for on the backs of so many females,” he continued.

Smith brought up other products, like ice cream, that can pose health risks.

“You can tax a lot of different items if you want to stop behavior,” he said. “You know, I love ice cream. Ice cream’s probably not the most healthy thing to eat. Why is there not a tax on that? You know what? If you look at the No. 1 cause of skin cancer, it’s not tanning beds. Do a Google search — it’s the sun.”

Smith said he “noticed” that Democrats “haven’t found too many taxes that they dislike — so why have they not proposed a tax on the sun instead of tanning beds?”

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., countered that scientific research shows indoor tanning poses an increased cancer risk, and that taxing their use is akin to taxing cigarettes.

“The tanning provision wasn’t picked randomly,” Levin said.

Reps. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., and Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, then got into a scrap over whether tanning beds do, in fact, pose a health risk.

“There’s nothing that shows that it is not healthy,” Renacci said. “It actually could be healthy if you look at some of the studies. So I want to make sure we can say it’s healthy. I’m not a doctor; you’re not a doctor.”

“Some of your figures are wacky,” Pascrell replied.

The GOP plan, which has been backed by President Trump, is now being weighed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

While that debate has gone on for more than 22 hours, it appears the issue of indoor tanning has yet to be been raised.

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