POLL: Are You in Favor of a Fat Tax?

[eits]

i was sitting in class yesterday and the professor was talking about some extremely obese patient he had and how much food he ate just for breakfast... then, he went on to talk about how much tax payers money go towards keeping his fat ass alive each year.

the student in front of me turned around and said, "that's why we need a fat tax." my liberal ass said, "don't you think that's kinda discriminatory?" he replied, "so? fvck 'em..."

good point.

but how would you implement a fat tax? tax fast food goers more per order? tax break for those who can document a healthy lifestyle and/or weight loss? it just kinda seems like it'd be hard to control...

EDIT: http://www.obesity.org/subs/tax/taxguide.shtml
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2004/Obesity-US-$75_1B22jan04.htm

found these... thought it'd be useful for the discussion.

 

[FoBoT]

nay

 

[D1gger]

I am firmly of the opinion that the user should pay. In this case, there should be a tax on all fast food, or alternatively, put a surcharge on medical services that are deemed to be necessary due to the patient being obese.

 

[waggy]

nope.

it would make me worry about what is next.

 

[dethman]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2013332&enterthread=y

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: D1gger
I am firmly of the opinion that the user should pay. In this case, there should be a tax on all fast food, or alternatively, put a surcharge on medical services that are deemed to be necessary due to the patient being obese.

yes, but how would the govt effectively regulate that? it just seems like there'd be so many problems with that. overeating isn't something that could easily be taxed... plus, should the govt even be involved in knowing that you're overeating??

the medical surcharge isn't going to stop them from overeating or unhealthy eating... if they're in the hospital for something that was caused by their eating habits, what if they can't pay because of it? too bad, buddy? your fault you got that way? have fun dying?

 

[everman]

You can't just tax food deemed unhealthy, then everyone pays regardless of their health status. Some people can control themselves and only eat junk food occasionally, they should not be required to pay any such "fat tax". I think a better alternative is to charge obese people more for health insurance just like smokers, charge them less once they drop the weight.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: dethman
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2013332&enterthread=y

??? thanks for linking this thread in the thread...

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: everman
You can't just tax food deemed unhealthy, then everyone pays regardless of their health status. Some people can control themselves and only eat junk food occasionally, they should not be required to pay any such "fat tax". I think a better alternative is to charge obese people more for health insurance just like smokers, charge them less once they drop the weight.

yeah, that's a good idea... but i think they already do that, don't they? isn't that what insurance risk analysts determine?

 

[MrPickins]

We need less government, not more.

 

[jdoggg12]

Originally posted by: MrPickins
We need less fatasses, not more.

fixed

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: eits
but how would you implement a fat tax? tax fast food goers more per order? tax break for those who can document a healthy lifestyle and/or weight loss? it just kinda seems like it'd be hard to control...

More likely, the government would tax the purveyors of unhealthy foods, like fast food chains or snack companies. That seems like a poor idea to me, if anything obese people should not be eligible for any sort of federal assistance in treating complications of a self inflicted condition. Medical insurance should cost more for them as well. It's not discriminitory for old people to pay more for life insurance.

 

[IGBT]

..no. But I would like to see risk catagory based premiums so the reckless can pay for their excess rather then all of us pay more for medical.

 

[nageov3t]

I don't know how I feel about the government invading my house with a scale every month.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: eits
but how would you implement a fat tax? tax fast food goers more per order? tax break for those who can document a healthy lifestyle and/or weight loss? it just kinda seems like it'd be hard to control...

More likely, the government would tax the purveyors of unhealthy foods, like fast food chains or snack companies. That seems like a poor idea to me, if anything obese people should not be eligible for any sort of federal assistance in treating complications of a self inflicted condition. Medical insurance should cost more for them as well. It's not discriminitory for old people to pay more for life insurance.

actually, that's the definition of discrimination, but it's not the bad kind of discrimination.

i dunno... i think we definitely need less fatasses roaming around this country... it's more dangerous than legalizing marijuana, in my opinion. however, in order to tax it or monitor people's health, we'd have a lot more government, which i don't think we need (that's the conservative part of me talking). 1984 ftl.

 

[naldo]

I'm confused. Exactly how are the taxpayers paying for his medical treatment?

This is the united states we are talking about right? Not Canada or something?

 

[gamepad]

I voted yes just because you said "probably 13829 no, 60 yes."

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: eits
but how would you implement a fat tax? tax fast food goers more per order? tax break for those who can document a healthy lifestyle and/or weight loss? it just kinda seems like it'd be hard to control...

More likely, the government would tax the purveyors of unhealthy foods, like fast food chains or snack companies. That seems like a poor idea to me, if anything obese people should not be eligible for any sort of federal assistance in treating complications of a self inflicted condition. Medical insurance should cost more for them as well. It's not discriminitory for old people to pay more for life insurance.

actually, that's the definition of discrimination, but it's not the bad kind of discrimination.

i dunno... i think we definitely need less fatasses roaming around this country... it's more dangerous than legalizing marijuana, in my opinion. however, in order to tax it or monitor people's health, we'd have a lot more government, which i don't think we need (that's the conservative part of me talking). 1984 ftl.

You know what I mean though, legally speaking I don't see why obese folks paying higher medical premiums should be that much different from old poeple paying higher life premiums, it makes logical sense. This limits government invasion as well, since there is no 'tax' persay, just the medical industry taking the burden of the obese folks off of the rest of us. It's not all that unlike dangerous drivers paying more for auto insurance either.

 

[D1gger]

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: D1gger
I am firmly of the opinion that the user should pay. In this case, there should be a tax on all fast food, or alternatively, put a surcharge on medical services that are deemed to be necessary due to the patient being obese.

yes, but how would the govt effectively regulate that? it just seems like there'd be so many problems with that. overeating isn't something that could easily be taxed... plus, should the govt even be involved in knowing that you're overeating??

the medical surcharge isn't going to stop them from overeating or unhealthy eating... if they're in the hospital for something that was caused by their eating habits, what if they can't pay because of it? too bad, buddy? your fault you got that way? have fun dying?

Just slap a tax on all foods that are unhealthy based on a measured criteria (% of calories from fat comes to mind). Then it doesn't matter who is eating it, but the revenue generated goes towards health care. Healthy people are bound to eat less and therefore bear less of the tax burden. Overeaters buy more of this crap and therefore pay more tax.

As far as the medical surcharge, there would have to be a judgement by the medical practitioner that the condition was largely a result of obesity, and then they would apply the surcharge. If the patient is unable to pay due to financial hardship, then the costs would come out of the fat tax fund. If they can afford to pay, they foot the bill.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: gamepad
I voted yes just because you said "probably 13829 no, 60 yes."

hehe i figured atot would have more fatties who, logically, wouldn't want to be taxed for the way they are... that combined with all the righties in here is why i said there'd be more nays than yeas.

 

[TehMac]

If you want to be fat, no one else should suffer, or gain an advantage, unless it be the body of people as a whole, not just politicians and bureaucrats.

And how was your teacher liberal about that? he was right, in this case, taxing someone in this case, is almost nazi like, and I mean wtf, if you tax him on food, thats just detrimental to the economy.

 

[GregGreen]

I voted no, but it is also my opinion we shouldn't have any sort of socialized medicine or medicaid or medicare....

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: D1gger

Originally posted by: eits

Originally posted by: D1gger
I am firmly of the opinion that the user should pay. In this case, there should be a tax on all fast food, or alternatively, put a surcharge on medical services that are deemed to be necessary due to the patient being obese.

yes, but how would the govt effectively regulate that? it just seems like there'd be so many problems with that. overeating isn't something that could easily be taxed... plus, should the govt even be involved in knowing that you're overeating??

the medical surcharge isn't going to stop them from overeating or unhealthy eating... if they're in the hospital for something that was caused by their eating habits, what if they can't pay because of it? too bad, buddy? your fault you got that way? have fun dying?

Just slap a tax on all foods that are unhealthy based on a measured criteria (% of calories from fat comes to mind). Then it doesn't matter who is eating it, but the revenue generated goes towards health care. Healthy people are bound to eat less and therefore bear less of the tax burden. Overeaters buy more of this crap and therefore pay more tax.

As far as the medical surcharge, there would have to be a judgement by the medical practitioner that the condition was largely a result of obesity, and then they would apply the surcharge. If the patient is unable to pay due to financial hardship, then the costs would come out of the fat tax fund. If they can afford to pay, they foot the bill.

what about specialists (chiropractors, oncologists, physical therapists, etc.)? sometimes, the reason why they're in their offices is a direct result from being too heavy (anterior weight carriage, accelerated joint degeneration, reduced range of motion, certain cancers due to eating habits, etc)...

 

[ultimatebob]

Make healthy food cheaper, and more people will buy it. As long as that "organically grown" crap costs twice as much as normal food, most folks are never going to buy it.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Make healthy food cheaper, and more people will buy it. As long as that "organically grown" crap costs twice as much as normal food, most folks are never going to buy it.

How do you propose making healthy food cheaper without a demand for it? If the average person would rather be eating a bowl of spinach than a double cheeseburger, you'd better believe it would be on McDonald's menu for the same price.