Alabama Plans to Tax Fat Employees to Recoup Insurance Costs

[ShadowHM]

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Those are some very wide strokes you are painting, and the color is very ugly. Fact is, you don't have any understanding of all the facts. The truth is that obesity is far too complex an issue to just say "eat less exercise more". An alcoholic does not have to drink to live. A smoker does not have to smoke to live. An obese person does have to eat to live. People are able to exercise, and have otherwise fit measures of health, in the presence of obesity. The only "truth" I can derive from your statement is that you have never had to struggle with it nor be the target of the only remaining socially acceptable discrimination.

Hi

The colour of bad health is always ugly. :(

Obesity is certainly the result of a series of complex decisions. And, I do hope, you noted that I did not say it was easy to fix. But the fact remains that it is generally preventable and it is, generally speaking, the precursor of many an expensive health problem. Prevention is always cheaper than repairs and/or emergency care.

If you have had to struggle with it, you have my sympathy. One of my dear friends has struggled for years (yes, years - at least 25 years) with it, and has only recently found the combination of diet and exercise that is taking the stress off his heart and other organs. He has lost 75 pounds now and has another 75 to go. I am cheering wildly for him, because I want him to be around in another 25 years. I need his caustic wit and trenchant observations about the world around us to help keep me sane.

No health issue is easy to fix. My point is that if you wish to have your health care subsidized by the taxpayer, you have to accept that they have a stake in ensuring that the costs of that care are minimized.

And, to MEAT, yes, we do have subsidized health care here. And we do have higher taxes than many States. We all make our choices.