The Fat Tax
In August, the Alabama State Employees’ Insurance Board approved a plan that will charge workers an additional $25 to cover their insurance premiums, if they don’t take advantage of free health screenings available to all state employees. The program, to begin in January, will require state workers to receive medical screenings for body mass index and health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.
Punishment or Opportunity? It is an important step toward better preventive care at a time when health costs are soaring and Americans are in increasing denial about their ever-ballooning weight. State employees are being asked to go to a free health screening, and if necessary, a free doctor’s consultation. If those screenings show that a person is predisposed to illness due to their weight or other conditions, they will be offered help to begin to address their health issues. Only if workers fail to take advantage of the free screening will they be charged the additional $25.
Varying reports place Alabama with the second or third highest rate of obesity in the country. Not the only thing the state is doing to reduce obesity. They will pay for 1/2 of the cost to enroll in Weight Watchers so that employees can learn to change their eating habits and feel better. Now is not the time to resist efforts to make us healthier.
