Does an "Obesity Tax" Make Sense?

This past week, my friend David Pechar wrote an opinion piece about New York State's proposed so-called "Obesity Tax" for Demockracy.com, in which he unequivocally defends Governor Patterson's decisions to back the legislation which would impose a tax on all soft drink purchases in the Empire State.

David writes:

The rise in health care spending for chronic illness is staggering and can be attributed to just a handful of conditions. Although the scientific data varies, one study by Kenneth Thorpe, PhD, Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the Clinton Administration, found that just five medical conditions accounted for a 31% increase in health care spending in a period spanning from 1987 to 2000. All five of these – heart disease, pulmonary disorders, mental disorders, cancer, and hypertension – are conditions associated with obesity.

This being all well and good, the question remains: are average Americans ready to accept the level on governmental intrusion into their daily lives that such a tax on basic consumption represents?

Head over to Demockracy.com and learn more about this interesting new wrinkle in the all-out war on health care expenditures.

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