Alabama to Institute a Fat Tax

     Starting in January of 2009, state employees who are obese will have to undergo medical checkups and those who are found to have a BMI ( body mass index ) that shows they are obese will have a year to lose the weight or pay a tax in the form of having to pay $25 more a month for their health insurance.

     The workers who must lose the weight will be given access to a weight watchers program that will be discount through the YMCA and other on-line tools.

     Opponents to this plan believe that instead of punishing those who are obese, they should instead be offering incentives.

     Normally I would be opposed to this kind of thing but I can see that clearly people who are truly obese, not overweight, but obese will have higher risks for diabetes, heart problems, and the like. Those conditions will require a lot of money to be treated. All the taxpayers will be paying for it in one way or another so they should have a say in this matter. If you want to be obese and don't want to be fined for it, don't take the insurance, pay for a private insurance yourself and eat away. I say this as an obese person myself. It's my choice to overeat, so why should everyone else have to pay for it?

     Another point is Alabama ranks the second fattest state in the country. Single government workers don't pay anything for their health insurance, and families only pay about $180 a month. I don't know what they're making, but at first glance I'd say they were getting off dirt cheap for medical insurance. Plus, even though they may have a family plan, the fine won't include the workers spouse or children even if they are obese.

     On the other hand, other criteria will be used besides the BMI, and that would include blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. This could cause problems because you don't have to be morbidly obese to have any of those conditions. My own mother is very thin and she's had a problem with high cholesterol even though she is eating healthy and on a cholesterol drug. This brings up the issue that overweight people can be healthier than normal weight people, so how can one group be singled out for one risk factor? What do you think?