What Do You Think? Fat Tax
Alabama announced that it would start charging state workers for being fat. Overweight workers who suffer health problems and don’t make progress towards losing weight/resolving them in a year will be charged $25 per month for health coverage that is normally free. Alabama already charges people for smoking. Other states reward people for making healthy changes- paying for gym memberships or offering other discounts- but Alabama would be the first to penalize them.
What do you think about this idea?
I think this is a good start as Alabama is one of the fattests states in the union. Sure people have the right to be in whatever shape they want. BUT, if you are so obese that you are incuring medical costs for issues that you would not have if you were even at an average weight, then tax away. (ie, weight induced diabetes, knee problems, heart problems…)
And one more thing. If you are so big that you can’t fit in a single airplane seat, you should not be let on the damn plane if you don’t buy the seat next to it.
If you “choose” to be large then you should have to deal with the consequences. If this is not a choice, if it is a condition, as long as you are being treated and working to improve your condition well, then the tax should be waived.
If you are a twinkie eating ice cream glutton, get out your check book and get to paying!
I’m leery of “sin taxes” like this because I really don’t think the science is in. Unlike cigarette smoking, there’s no medical consensus about whether someone with a lower BMI is necessarily more healthy. For example, a coworker of mine who is in great shape had to go on lipid-lowering drugs because her genes give her high cholesterol and high risk for heart disease; I, on the other hand, have great cholesterol levels, healthy blood pressure, and generally good genes despite my fat ass. Which one of us would be fined? Which one of us will cost the health care system more? There are just too many variables.