Overconsumption of sugary soft drinks is a major contributor to obesity and related health issues, and is hence a big cause of out-of-control health care costs. A moderate tax on sugary soft drinks, and the elimination of the corn subsidies that make high-fructose corn syrup calories so cheap, will steer consumers to healthier alternatives. This is traditionally called a "sin tax".
Similarly, while most Americans agree that marijuana consumption is not desirable, it is very clear that the costs of prohibition greatly outweigh the benefits. Legalizing and taxing marijuana will provide needed revenue for improving our health care system, and at the same time free up law enforcement to focus on more serious problems and relieve some of the strain on our prison system.
Comments (13)
Lot of taxes to be collected here
No new taxes. Actually reduce taxes. The government should not provide universal health care at all. Reduce the government's budget, don't enlarge it.
Tax hard liquor imported beer and wine and all carbonated and soft drinks.
HOWEVER, as you point out we don't need more substances to abuse our bodies with. Pot is a good medicine, a drug, can be used for certain specific med conditions.
sin taxes good! Soda, Beer, marijuana...the only thing we have to remember if we allow marijuana for medicinal purposes is that our education in drug prevention must increase...if it is approved, it will be a medicine..we don't want teens looking at it like a cigarette/that would send the wrong messege...and penalties for those who are caught using it without a prescription must be enforced to the max...I know it sounds like easy money for our government, but, it comes with much responsibility...
Some studies indicate that diet sodas contribute to weight gain more than regular sodas. Why don't you just tax breathing air?
We have more than enough to fund this by making tiny cuts in military spending. Close a base somewhere.
Taxing those things that harm health and rewarding healthy behavior to fund healthcare is definitely the right direction.
The government is not qualified by wisdom to guide people through life. It is not authorized to manipulate through taxes.
Sin taxes are repugnant. Sooner or later, they come for you and yours. Cut it out!
Instead of inventing new taxes we should force our government to live within its means. All Congressional and staff pay should be subject to a sufficient surplus in the budget to pay them.
we all know what contributes to poor health and taxing those products may discourage their use by the public. that should be the intention of taxing them and we should consider any money from that tax source as gravy. we should not RELY on them to exclusively fund our health system.
if we enacted a publicly funded system of health care administration we would all come out ahead financially. this fact is being obscured by those in the industry and in government.
If we enacted a government program you will end up with a more expensive system that kills innoivation and turns our health care system into another bunch of red tape.
Government programs cost more, deliver less service, and have virtually no innovation.
We will have longer wait times for doctors because there will be fewer doctors. Have a look at the UK dental plan.
There is no place in the Constitution where the federal government is permitted to engage in this activity and thus it is left to the States and to the People.
Here in America we have a tradition of taking care of our problems with innovation and professionalism.
Why would we want to trade that for rationed care that costs more?
that would get a lot money for health care
I would like to share my ideas regarding national health care with you.
I believe that someone such as the Surgeon General or someone else should determine what a basic health plan (driven by public health care policies) should be. Once such a basic plan is determined all health insurance companies will be required to provide the provisions of such plan to any United States citizen. Insurance companies would be allowed to charge whatever price they determined is equitable but they would have to charge all of their customers the same price, though each company would differ in price. Everyone would get a tax credit that would cover most of the cost for buying the basic plan and be required to buy the basic plan before buying any optional health insurance. Along with this basic policy for everyone, the paperwork would be standardized across all insurance companies, hospitals and health care providers.
Since the insurance company has to charge each one of its customers the same price they can advertise the price on radio, television, print advertising creating a competitive market. Since the basic plan is the same, consumers will be able to compare the base rate and optional coverage easier. This would eliminate insurance companies from refusing people for insurance for the basic plan. However, insurance companies could charge accordingly and set their own guidelines for optional insurance. Also government can help the poor with their premiums. The government also should set up an insurance plan for the insurance companies that thay all pay into, so that smaller insurance companies could offer health insurance, so if a insurance company has a person with health cost of over a million dollars thay could collect from the government plan. Also make medicare and mediaid cradle to grave plans so to make insurance companies to keep you healthy for your whole life and not just keeping you healthy till you get on medicare. And to make every one get health insurance give a tax credit to everyone that buys health insurance that will pay for most if not all of the cost of the health insurance, the tax credit would be base on the number of people insured for the household and not the cost of the health insurance, but it still should cover most if not all of the cost of the health insurance. For people doing unhealthy acts, I say tax them, tax smoking, tax unsafe cars, tax unhealthy food, and use those taxes to help fund health care.
I posted my plan under
uncategorized
please read all of it and tell me how to make it better and vote on it
my email is debdaveandpets@gmail.com
if you want to contact me, I think my plan would be easier to do than most other health plans.
David McDonell
E5273 Airport Road
Ironwood, MI 49938
Make basic health insurance like milk, you do not see huge difference in milk prices because milk is milk someone charges to much and people will buy it elsewhere, but for the free market to work well people have to be able to compare the different plans, and by making the basic plans the same across all health insurance companies people will only have to compare price and service for the basic plans and what optional insurance is offer by the health insurance companies. If the Clintons past single payer health care what would Bush have done with it by cutting coverage it offered. That is why I do not want single payer. By having sick people pay the same as healthy people, employers would not have to pay more for workers with medical problems and those people can change jobs and find work easier. Unhealthy items and acts would be taxed. Insurance companies can not use paper work to denied coverage and would get rid of most of it. Freemarket would keep costs down. people and retirement plans owning stock in health insurance companies would not lose a lot of value. Putting health insurance companies out of business would have costs.
This should probably be merged with the "ban high fructose corn syrup" idea. I think HFCS rather than traditional cane sugar is probably what the original poster meant anyway. Most soft drinks are made with HFCS, not anything the average person would recognize as "sugar". A "sin-tax" on HFCS would be a good incentive for soft drink manufacturers to switch from HFCS back to something like cane sugar. But it's important not to tax cane sugars or other non-HFCS forms of sugar. If you tax the good stuff and the bad stuff the same, there's no incentive to switch to the good stuff!