Agree or disagree, a very interesting read. "Tax the Fat"

windwords7 · 05-23-2003, 09:41 AM

Tax The Overweight To Pay Medical Bills
By Dr. Phil Maffetone

Overweight people cost the nation $93 billion in additional health costs yearly and about half that is paid for by taxpayers, according to estimates published recently in USA Today. The medical bill for fat people now rivals that of smokers.

I have an answer to this problem: Tax people for being fat.

It's really a simple plan. Each year the Centers for Disease Control can project an estimated cost of the burden overweight people place on the health-care system. Taxpayers would be required to show up at certified IRS weigh-in centers during the month of January when people are fattest after the holidays to have their body-mass index measured. The fat tax will be computed based on the amount over the appropriate body-mass index and projected medical bills for fat people nationwide.

Children also will be required to be weighed, and parents will be charged an additional hefty penalty for fat kids. Consider that medical bills for overweight children are now at $127 million yearly for kids age 6-17.

This all sounds fair to me. But I'd take it one step further.

In addition to taxing people for being overweight, under my proactive tax plan I would also place a "sin tax" on food products that make people fat. This is really nothing new - alcohol and tobacco products already have such taxes. An additional percentage would be charged for processed foods or anything containing refined sugar or flour, or hydrogenated oils. Soda pop, fast food and doughnuts would be taxed at an even higher rate.

A new tax strategy wouldn't be any good without incentives. How about a standard deduction for having a normal body-mass index? All fresh fruits and vegetables would be tax-deductible items. Just think of the boost this would give the agriculture industry and overall economy as we switch from a society of processed junk to one of real food. We could institute further deductions for maintaining a regular exercise program (this could be substantiated to the IRS by submitting scores from MAF Tests as described in my book, In Fitness and In Health).

If this sort of tax strategy seems too radical, consider the alternative. The nation will continue to get fatter, and this will continue to cost more and more in terms of health care and taxes.

I say "tax the fat." If it doesn't raise more awareness to this out-of-control health issue, at least we'll cover the medical bills.

tommy_69 · 05-23-2003, 09:58 AM

Damn that the best post ive ever read !! lol just joking i pay about 30k in taxes a year and i would luv to pay less

and definitly tax the **** out of any junk foods .. especially soda and hydronated oil foods ..

zeromagnus · 05-23-2003, 10:04 AM

it will never happen...but I like it

motleybreu · 05-23-2003, 01:33 PM

it will never happen......now are they talking about people that weigh above the average weight for their height? because if that's true then it doesn't matter if you are a bodybuilder or a fat person

**jminis** · 05-23-2003, 01:34 PM

I love it. Especially with parents feeding their kids the way they do. You know there actually coming out with a already packaged PB and J sandwhich. How lazy can you be. It takes 5 seconds to make a pB and J. It's so easy for these parents to say "what the hell lets go to Mcdonalds for dinner" These fat and lazy burdens of society need to take some responsibility and stop blaming everyone but themselves. Tax them I say. WW7 you have my vote. I bust ass to stay fit and I'll be damned if I am going to pay more for peoples laziness. Late

chi_town · 05-23-2003, 02:31 PM

Junk food tax.......is fine in my book.
But taxing people for being fat....is rediculous.

But if they base it on BF%.........then I'm all for it. LOL
Then you would have to have a different BF% levels for men vs. women. And what about the HeShe's what would you do for them.....split the difference ?

ROFLMAO

PEACE

Alpha Dog · 05-23-2003, 02:35 PM

Great, my BMI qualifies me as Obeise

Can we figure out a way to tax stupidity?

msclbldrguy · 05-23-2003, 02:38 PM

interesting idea but i dont think it will ever work. i could be wrong but seems to me that we've just become too lazy. when i was a kid, we still had soda pop, pb&j, oreo cookies, etc. but i dont remember any of us kids bein fat...a couple of kids a little chubby but that was about it. i was the exception...it was more eating for comfort than anything else...but thats another story. i still learned good nutritional habits growin up and still exercised alot...alot of kids these days seem to like tv and video games way too much, imo.

**jweave23** · 05-23-2003, 02:40 PM

If this were to be put into effect (which it obviously wouldn't), it wouldn't be based on BMI I'm sure. The only conceivable way I would imagine would be to have a case-by-case basis based upon federal doctor approval, following certain guidelines such as bf% and so on I would think.

dsade · 05-23-2003, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jweave23
If this were to be put into effect (which it obviously wouldn't), it wouldn't be based on BMI I'm sure. The only conceivable way I would imagine would be to have a case-by-case basis based upon federal doctor approval, following certain guidelines such as bf% and so on I would think.

 

Great, so any possible savings benefit would quickly be consumed by the administrative nightmare of implementation. Which means, sounds like a government Shoo-in.

windwords7 · 05-23-2003, 03:57 PM

You guy's its the principal of the matter that I think that is at play. Furthermore I think your overcomplicating it. If you have to recieve medical attention BECAUSE your a fatass, then you should be taxed accordingly. It would not be as hard to do if it was filtered that way.

dsade · 05-23-2003, 04:01 PM

That is understood, however undeniable causal connection (obesity as THE cause of the illness) has to be established for this kind of legislation to hold merit.

windwords7 · 05-23-2003, 04:17 PM

If they are able to quantify a number of "$93 billion" that "Overweight people cost", then they should be able to apply the same filter accordingly.

Alpha Dog · 05-23-2003, 04:24 PM

What about the cost to society in terms of those who drink, smoke, take steroids…… It’s a slippery slope.

I’m obese so I’m just looking out for my peeps

dsade · 05-23-2003, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by windwords7
If they are able to quantify a number of "$93 billion" that "Overweight people cost", then they should be able to apply the same filter accordingly.

 

Well, I would have to see the methods behind "their" determination of $93 billion dollars. You know as well as I do that statistics can be manipulated to tell different stories when divorced from the methods of acquisition.

Just look at what "they" are doing with the Ephedrine statistics.

ex_banana-eater · 05-24-2003, 03:53 AM

Tax on "foods that make people fat"??? This really puzzles me, because almost any food that isn't a vegetable will get somebody fat. Will pop make somebody fat if you are eating under your maintenance? Of course not, this author makes me want to rip out my hair. He's a doctor. They pass guys like this through medical school these days?
So what's next, tax on all nuts, and olive oil, since they are calorie dense and could make someone fat? Then a person gets fat from eating avacado's all day.. gotta tax that one...

It is not cost effective to hire experienced people to calculate the bodyfat percentage of 270 million people, nor could it be performed, without months of organization, etc.

windwords7 · 05-24-2003, 10:43 AM

Like I said before, your over complicating it. If your overweight and have medical bills as a result of your weight then they could access a tax on your medical bils if you want. Also, it is easy to concieve a "junk food" tax that would help to differ the cost that abuse of such foods create.