Alabama Plans to Tax Fat Employees to Recoup Insurance Costs

[--Pete]

Hi,

Non sequitur. We are, I thought, discussing a measure that will apply to all state employees.

I think it follows very closely. Next year, why not use the exact same argument -- they will cost more, so they should pay more -- to target the older employees or those whose family history includes any of the problems that are subject to genetic predisposition. And it's no 'slippery slope'. They're already off the bank and into the cesspool.

If you don't like the measuring device used to define obese, fine. :) But the fact remains that obesity, by and large, is preventable and is a product of poor decisions made by the individual.

EDIT: Removed info that the Lurkers don't really need.

Until a few years ago, in my ignorance, I thought as you do. Since then nature has given me a graduate course in nutrition, and believe me, it is nowhere as simple as you think.

And, I reiterate, I damn well don't want to pay for the costs of your bad decisions. You, personally, are not asking. But, collectively, the employees of the state of Alabama are asking for that. The are expecting health insurance to go along with their pay cheques. You may not like that the medical profession is, once again, being asked to be the gate-keeper to validate good health. Heck, I don't like it either. But what measure would you choose?

And I reiterate that what bothers me most of the Alabama plan is that the 'obese' are being forced to 'do something about their obesity'. Whether it is a health condition or a lifestyle choice, the state does not -- or at least should not -- have that right. If they want those people to pay more, that may (just barely may) be justified. However, that same justification should apply even more to those who don't exercise, since inactivity is, as I've said before, a greater health issue than obesity. And I'll not even go to the issue of unprotected sex.

--Pete