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.

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 ..

it will never happen...but I like it

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

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

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

Great, my BMI qualifies me as Obeise

Can we figure out a way to tax stupidity?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

I would have to say I disagree. but I do think for the people who go to a gym and buy health food that they should be able to file that with their taxes and get a bit of a break on them. That way you reward those who are trying to be healthy than punishing fat people. Some people can't help being overweight. and what about those good old bulking cycles you do in winter when everyones gains a few pounds. Hate to pay taxes for trying to gain muscle. And kids some kids are just fat until puberty ( I know I weight 190 in sixth grade) than once they start growing they get to be normal weight. I do like the concept though. later

I know what you're saying Jake, that we are overcomplicating it by micro-managing any possible implementation of it...but that's only becuase I think most of us agree that those slovenly, lard ridden, KFC eating, gluttonous tubbies that will not help themselves in any way should be taxed for the extra strain they put on our healthcare system. So in concept.....yeah I say tax the tubbies, but it's just not implementable without serious problems.

I personally do not want my tax money going to pay for people who are sick because they are overweight who live on the dole. That's another thought. On welfare? Then your foodstamps can ONLY buy healthy food.

Originally posted by windwords7
I personally do not want my tax money going to pay for people who are sick because they are overweight who live on the dole.

That's the jist of it right there. If everything is cracking down on smoking, ephedrine, etc because they are dangerous AND lead to an overburdening of the health care system...then obesity is the same thing. I think the simplest solution would just be that instead of insurance companies paying solely for health care, they should force the patient (ie obese pig) to pay a portion of that bill.
However, that said....I think the term "healthy eating" is a misnomer. Eating just fruits and veggies is not healthy eating, nor is a vegetarian diet IMO. Futher, CKD has shown that you can eat fatty ****, as long as you don't eat processed carbs..so its hard to define "healthy eating".

Originally posted by shadow_manifest
I would have to say I disagree. but I do think for the people who go to a gym and buy health food that they should be able to file that with their taxes and get a bit of a break on them. That way you reward those who are trying to be healthy than punishing fat people. Some people can't help being overweight. and what about those good old bulking cycles you do in winter when everyones gains a few pounds. Hate to pay taxes for trying to gain muscle. And kids some kids are just fat until puberty ( I know I weight 190 in sixth grade) than once they start growing they get to be normal weight. I do like the concept though. later

Can't agree there.

Originally posted by Scottyo


Futher, CKD has shown that you can eat fatty ****, as long as you don't eat processed carbs..so its hard to define "healthy eating".

It's not hard to define Snickers and Hostess products as unhealthy however. Having a fat tax there would make sense. Also most chips and other empty calorie foods. You can still eat them but you pay a little more to cover the damages that they are proven to cause. I see no problem there. Just like cigarette and alcohol taxes.

ok I think before you can say wether or not that you want something pass then you look at it in all of its entirity. The article is one sided saying that all fat people should be tax not just the ones that have medical bills because of it. It would be like saying that no one can't except you for being fat. and I agree that obesity is a big problem for people in america and that some people couldn't care less about their health like some people couldn't care less about their hair or what they drive. its all relative. Should we be taxed more on our supplements like ph's which can be bad for your health that can cause high blood pressure like fast food can. I mean just because we choose to be in shape and live a healthy life style that we should be treated special for it. Just think what other things our tax money pays for. Billions of dollars to rebuild a country we destroyed or other programs we see no benefits in. I think trying to bring more awareness to the problem is the best solution. Fast food places are trying to bring healthier choices like offering salads enen though they have fatty dressing with them its a start. I just think that the outline that the article has setup would have more serious problems than what it would help. So we tax "fat people" what dose that help. it may save you a few dollars a year in taxes but does it help them? NO. It just gives them a lable and I have a problem with labling children fat. You are just setting up problem for eatting disorders and other problems that come with it. If a parent has to pay "additional hefty penalty for fat kids" then they tell their kids it isn't ok to be a overweight because it cost and pressure them to loose weight because of money. What are we telling them. Just feeding society image of being perfect. Should we tax people for being underweight too why we're at it. They have medical bills to that may be related because of it. I know this complicating the hell out of it, but I feel overweight people should have a voice too.Look at it from both sides. To them you may be nothing but a bunch of steroid popping monkeys. That isn't true but it is a view on it. sorry if this sounds rude but I felt someone had to be the devils addvocate. I just think before we say a law should be pass for this you have to analize it carefully.

Originally posted by shadow_manifest
So we tax "fat people" what dose that help. it may save you a few dollars a year in taxes but does it help them? NO. It just gives them a lable and I have a problem with labling children fat. You are just setting up problem for eatting disorders and other problems that come with it. If a parent has to pay "additional hefty penalty for fat kids" then they tell their kids it isn't ok to be a overweight because it cost and pressure them to loose weight because of money. What are we telling them. Just feeding society image of being perfect.

Not what societies image of being perfect is at all. That is perposterous conclusion to draw from that article. Rather, it's about what SCIENCE says is unhealthy. It has nothing to do with "image". I am not going to pay for the medical bills that are associated with looking like the below. There is NO excuse and it's not anyones responsibility but their own (barring rare medical disorders).

NO EXCUSE:

Also not all fat people cause medical bills
There are lots of overweight people who jog daily, they are healthy, but they just do not get the weight off, be it diet or genetics or both.
But they are still healthy.
Also, this would cause SOO much time and money
Going throgh all the foods and giving them a tax, It's a good concept, but you can't go by BMI or just say all obese/fat people pay
It could possibly work like Insurance, get in an accident higher insurance... if you need to go in for health problems higher health insurance... maybe something to that degree. But there can't purely be a chart or BMI index used to categorize these people into paying more..

or llike someone said, tax CUTS

Except for the rare medical conditons that exist, there is NO excuse for a child looking like below. Their parents should be brought up on criminal charges of neglect and endangering the welfare of child.

ok i will agree with you on the pic. they are no excuse for that. But I was a very fat child I weighed more at 11 than 19 and a child doesn't know about nutrition and alot of the time neither do parents so charge them with a crime. a parent can still love a child and the child be fat. it is that they aren't enought programs in school or for parents to teach them about good nutrtion and a healthy lifestyle. so bring about more awareness.

I agree ww7. I love the genetics answer. Why is this only a problem in our country which happens to have more fast food chains than anywhere on the planet. Hmmmm. Yes genetics. We didn't have this problem 20 years ago. Why all of a sudden? did some evolutionary thing happened which is making the U.S fat. Is it something in the water? Hmmm I think that this so called "gene" is laziness and lack of education. Yes I know some people have medical issues that cause them to be heavier but you know where thats from the parents being overweight.
As for children, some kids have more baby fat than others. But when these kids are fed 5 times a day with cheeseburgers, soda, fries, etc it's abuse. 99% of the time the parent ,usually the mother, is overweight and drags the kids down with her. It is flat out abuse. These kids don't have chance to be healthy. Their parents are setting them up for a harder life than they need to have and that's wrong.

That isn't abuse. abuse is knocking the **** out of them for nothing. The parent isn't thinking how fat she can make child or the health effects it will later have. Chances are she don't know enought about nutrtion to know a burger and fry isn't as healthy as a grilled chicken breast and brown rice. In fact nutrion is the last thing on her mind so seen her to jail for abuse? no. Instead lets educate her. for all we know she loves her child and wants them to be healthy but is just ignorant on nutrtion