News
3-6% Dental Tax DEFEATED !
Vermont's Governor Shumlin WAS pushing HARD for a 3% to 6% tax on dental services in this year's budget negotiations, but the individual legislators (on BOTH sides of the isle) held out against his pressure! This was very much a "tax on prevention", and we found it staggering that he had singled out dental patients to carry this tax burden. (All the while he was defending a smaller tobacco tax!... Go Figure?)
As you know, THIS MAY ALL COME BACK UP IN NEXT YEAR'S LEGISTATURE, so we will have to revisit this!
The dental tax would have driven up the cost of dental care for the people who are trying to manage their dental health responsibly. If you are a person who goes to the dentist for regular cleanings and check-ups, a Dental Tax goes against common sense: Dentistry has one of the most cost-effective models of successful "preventive" care out of all the various branches of health care.
Our question is "Why single out responsible dental patients?"
You might be interested to know that a tax on foods and drinks that cause tooth decay, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure were NOT being seriously considered for taxation. There was no mention of how these food choices drive up the cost of health care!,... and yet dental patients should carry the tax burden? It just didn't make any sense.
When our 17 year old daughter heard us talking about this tax proposal the other day she said "Mom, you mean they are going to tax all your nice patients who are doing the right thing by their health, and yet every day I walk around BFA high school seeing kids eating junk food and drinking 20 ounce sodas. Who will have to be responsible for those choices? Don't those kinds of diets cause the cost of ALL health care costs to rise?"
We think that about sums things up.
We learned a lot from the public fight, in the last year, to resist this tax...
#1 - Your opinion counts... 11,000 Vermont dental patients signed a petition against the proposed tax. That got legislators attention.
#2 - There is a "hot line" at the state house that you can call to register your opinions on any issue and they carefully track those calls. We learned that even 5 contacts from voters is a large number of responses, so your call DOES mattter! Here's the number: 800 649-6825
I should also tell you that when we called the Governor's hot line, they told us that this tax is being considered in order to increase the reimbursement to dentists who see dental medicade patients.
My response was to tell him my daughter's comment about the kids drinking three or four 20 ounce sodas a day,.. AND I offered some statistics about how smoking increased national health care costs by 60%!
These are CYCLES that we are talking about: If there are low or no taxes on tobacco and these ridiculous sugared beverages, no amount of taxation on responsible dental patients can keep up with the ever increasing health care costs or the dental needs in our youth populations.
So,.. anyway,.. WE WON THE BATTLE THIS YEAR, ..THANKS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO CALLED AND LEGISLATORS WHO HELD FIRM!
We may be at this again next year!... Just all food for thought folks!
- Dr. Lynda and Dr. Chuck
backAs you know, THIS MAY ALL COME BACK UP IN NEXT YEAR'S LEGISTATURE, so we will have to revisit this!
The dental tax would have driven up the cost of dental care for the people who are trying to manage their dental health responsibly. If you are a person who goes to the dentist for regular cleanings and check-ups, a Dental Tax goes against common sense: Dentistry has one of the most cost-effective models of successful "preventive" care out of all the various branches of health care.
Our question is "Why single out responsible dental patients?"
You might be interested to know that a tax on foods and drinks that cause tooth decay, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure were NOT being seriously considered for taxation. There was no mention of how these food choices drive up the cost of health care!,... and yet dental patients should carry the tax burden? It just didn't make any sense.
When our 17 year old daughter heard us talking about this tax proposal the other day she said "Mom, you mean they are going to tax all your nice patients who are doing the right thing by their health, and yet every day I walk around BFA high school seeing kids eating junk food and drinking 20 ounce sodas. Who will have to be responsible for those choices? Don't those kinds of diets cause the cost of ALL health care costs to rise?"
We think that about sums things up.
We learned a lot from the public fight, in the last year, to resist this tax...
#1 - Your opinion counts... 11,000 Vermont dental patients signed a petition against the proposed tax. That got legislators attention.
#2 - There is a "hot line" at the state house that you can call to register your opinions on any issue and they carefully track those calls. We learned that even 5 contacts from voters is a large number of responses, so your call DOES mattter! Here's the number: 800 649-6825
I should also tell you that when we called the Governor's hot line, they told us that this tax is being considered in order to increase the reimbursement to dentists who see dental medicade patients.
My response was to tell him my daughter's comment about the kids drinking three or four 20 ounce sodas a day,.. AND I offered some statistics about how smoking increased national health care costs by 60%!
These are CYCLES that we are talking about: If there are low or no taxes on tobacco and these ridiculous sugared beverages, no amount of taxation on responsible dental patients can keep up with the ever increasing health care costs or the dental needs in our youth populations.
So,.. anyway,.. WE WON THE BATTLE THIS YEAR, ..THANKS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO CALLED AND LEGISLATORS WHO HELD FIRM!
We may be at this again next year!... Just all food for thought folks!
- Dr. Lynda and Dr. Chuck