Jen’s Law Cleared by NJ Senate Health Committee

A bill to exempt sales tax for some cosmetic services that are performed in conjunction with reconstructive breast surgery was unanimously approved today by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

The measure is sponsored by State Sen. Jim Beach (D-Camden, Burlington).

The legislation has been dubbed, ‘Jen’s Law.’ It is named after New Jersey resident Jennifer Dubrow Weiss who had a double mastectomy after it was found that she had a high risk for getting breast cancer.

“The decision to have a radical mastectomy and the subsequent reconstructive surgery whether it is the result of breast cancer or a preventive measure is a physically and emotionally painful experience,” said Beach. “The last thing that we should be doing is making the road to recovery subject to sales tax.”

Under current New Jersey law, procedures for permanent cosmetic make-up to create the appearance of a pre-mastectomy breast are subject to sales tax.

Beach’s bill would expand the exemption to permanent cosmetic make-up applications, when it is called for by a physician. It also ends the loophole under which insurance companies are not covering sales tax charged for these types of procedures, leaving it to the patients to pay the taxes out-of-pocket.