I have written several posts on the idea of making FAT a sin or making FAT socially unacceptable…..many in the media are jumping on the anti-fat thing, some go so far as to accuse people that are “fat” of all sorts of mortal sins….lazy…gluttony….etc….well, there is another way of doing this….another way of doing what they say cannot be done…..TAX THE BASTARDS! (sarcasm intended).

First it was Alabama…this story came from the LA Times:

The State Employees’ Insurance Board announced a new plan beginning next year in which state employees will be required to receive medication screenings for several conditions, including body mass index. Those considered obese or who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high glucose will have to pay $25 a month more in health insurance beginning in January 2011, if they don’t take steps to address their health problems.

The new rule will affect more than 37,000 people employed by the state. Alabama is the first state to issue a so-called fat tax. The state already charges smokers a $24 per month surcharge (which will increase to $25 next month).

Alabama has the second highest obesity rate in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over 30% of the population is obese, ranking just behind Mississippi. Still, a fat tax?

And then another Southern state has jumped on the bandwagon.  The NewsObserver.com:

“Tobacco use and poor nutrition and inactivity are the leading causes of preventable deaths in our state,” said Anne Rogers, director of integrated health management with the N.C. State Employees Health Plan. “We need a healthy workforce in this state. We’re trying to encourage individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles.”

State workers who don’t cut out the Marlboros and Big Macs will end up paying more for health care. Tobacco users get placed in a more expensive insurance plan starting in July and, for those who qualify as obese, in July 2011.

The idea of penalizing unhealthy lifestyles and rewarding healthy conduct is hardly new among insurance plans. Public health insurance plans in other states already penalize smokers or reward nonsmokers in insurance costs. South Carolina’s state employees health plan is scheduled to add a $25-per-month surcharge on smokers in January. Elsewhere in the Southeast, Kentucky and Georgia impose surcharges, and Alabama gives nonsmokers a discount.

Tobacco and obesity are leading risk factors for ailments such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and chronic breathing disorders. BioSignia is not under contract with the state health plan, but Smith said that employers like the state are trying to catch employees who are in pre-disease stages to save both lives and money.

Only a fraction of employers, though, offer financial incentives for healthy behavior or wellness programs, such as gym memberships or smoking cessation, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study last year. Differences in employees’ education, health literacy and access to basic health care could affect the usefulness of financial incentives in reducing health-care costs over time, the study said.

How lovely!  What is next….. Beer?  After all beer has a way of showing up on one’s waistline.  Granted there is already some taxation on beer and alcohol, there is always more room for expansion of that tax.

Yes, once again this is government inserting itself in people’s lives…you know the same government that seems not to want to do anything about guns and crime…..or the same government that seems reluctant to do anything about the effects of carbon emissions…that is also the cause of illness and bad for people’s health…..

If this survives any court challenge then the rest of the states will run herd over their employees.  Workers will have something else to make their pay checks smaller….and the insurance companies smile……