Slim down, or pay the piper
Written by admin on August 22, 2008 – 12:24 am -The State of Alabama isn’t taking its workers’ obesity lying down. The state’s 37,000 employees have been given an ultimatum: Slim down, or pay an extra $300 per year.
Obesity has become a bit of an oversized target for cost-shifting. With over 30% of the state’s residents obese, Alabama will be the first state to assess a fat tax on its workers.
Increased health insurance premiums are but one way that being fat costs money, but typically this has largely been an issue with self-employed people. Group health insurance policies even the playing field, and the healthier, often slimmer members of the group subsidize the premiums paid by, or on behalf of, the less healthy members. Since obesity leads to many health issues, it makes budgetary sense to charge the people who contribute most to the rising costs of health insurance. Smokers have already been taxes in some places. Now apparently fat people are on the chopping block.
This will be a permanent money-maker for the state. Many people won’t take off the weight, and only a small fraction (about 5%) will keep it off for five years or more.
But there’s always that 5% that will win!
Related Posts - The killer hidden cost of weight-loss programs BankRate.com had this article on MSN Moneycentral: What does it cost to drop 30 pounds? The article runs down the costs associated with well-known diet programs like Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, and The Zone Diet. These programs aren't cheap. The cheapest of the four for losing 30 pounds is......
- One ounce at a time Someone passed on a copy of Fred Brooks' software classic The Mythical Man-Month to me. The introductory page to the chapter on progress tracking has this question and answer: Question: How does a large software project get to be one year late? Answer: One day at a time. Small slippages......
- Hundred Pushups, Week 1, Day 3 Done with Week 1! I got through the first week's workout on Column 2. Here it is: Date Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Maximum Total 06/21/08 7 7 5 4 12 35 06/23/08 9 8 6 5 10 38 06/25/08 10 8 8 5 11 42 Oh,......
- Welcome to Deflabbify I'm a 36-year-old guy, and I'm fat. I'm 5'7" and weigh 241 pounds. My BMI is over 35. I've never been heavier and my weight worries me. A cubicle job, poor eating habits, poor sleep habits, and general laziness have taken their toll. The full range of my ideal body......
Related Websites -
How to Eat Right When No One Else Will For many dieters, the biggest problem they face isn’t necessarily their own lifestyle change, but rather the fact that the people around them refuse to go along with the idea. It can be nearly impossible to focus on eating the right way when you eat out or are sitting across...... - Three Surefire Cheap Car Insurance Policy Tips To Get Cheap Car Insurance For New Drivers To get cheap car insurance for new drivers is a tough game. You will go after the insurance companies one by one, get the different quotes, and compare the quotes one by one just to end up in total confusion. I will show you some of the easy tips to......
-
Better Health and Finances With 100 Push Ups I was adding a few sites to PF Buzz Planet yesterday, and stumbled upon a web site called One Hundred Push Ups (via Too Smart To Live Like This). This is a timely find since I have been thinking about getting back in shape lately. To tell you the truth,...... - Ten ways being fat costs money I'm fat and I'm trying to deflabbify myself for my health, my longevity, my self-esteem -- and my wallet. Here are ten ways that being fat costs money: Eating more costs. Eating too much made me fat, and staying fat means I need more food. More food costs money. 2XL......
Posted in On Being Fat |