Should there be an obesity tax?

mazdamiatamx5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058266043/should-there-be-an-obesity-tax

Don't be giving Eamon Ryan ideas.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

How is this going to work? Tax people by weight? 20 stone and you pay an extra x% on top of your bill?

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119714354#Comment_119714354

there are those who hardly ever see their gp so using the gp is unworkable.

it's not implemented because it's nonsense and doesn't constitute remedial or any care, + it's a cost for no gain unlike the measures in place.

big farma may have their issues but they have done a hell of a lot for humanity and that will continue.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119717377#Comment_119717377

i'm sure they would, which is ultimately an abuse of the GP service, especially one which is understaffed.

given it would be more work for the GP who i believe have quite the work load as it is, extra funding would be required which is going to have to come from somewhere, and given we will be giving a thousand euro back to most people that is quite the cost for sweet FA at the end of it.

if incentivising good behaviour worked in adults then there would be no issues in society, it doesn't work hence there is and hence your suggestion is dum, won't work and nobody is going to waste their time on it.

being over weight or similar unhealthy beings aren't bad behaviour anyway, they are unhealthy lifestyles which is different.

You can't intervene in people's lives to that extent in a free society. People also have a right (legally enshrined) to privacy and go about their lives unencumbered by this kind of thing.

It's also proposing an overly simplistic solution to a set of very complex problems.

Also where do you draw the line on something like this?

It very quickly goes from an app tracking your exercise and diet ... to an app tracking how many pints you have had in a month, to how many hours sleep you got, to how often you've been to the toilet, to delving into your sex life... before long you'd be managed by an app with social credits, like in China, which is a full blown authoritarian state.

Maybe you're watching too much Netflix or posting too much on boards, and need to be sent to the Curragh for reeducation... ?

The proposals on the thread to deny people coverage, or load their coverage, would simply get you into a situation where unless you're meeting a very narrow set of criteria you'd simply be left to die.

MakersMark

If it all boils down to money, then those who pay the most tax deserve the best treatment, no??

MakersMark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119707763#Comment_119707763

What if the overweight patient has paid 50 grand a year in tax for 20 years and the other has been on benefits his whole life?

Who should be treated then?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119719885#Comment_119719885

The health service is in a poor state because of how it's run. Projects like the national children's hospital and it's runaway cost before a patient has even attended it.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119718209#Comment_119718209

It's the mindset of finding something that doesn't effect you currently and using it punish others and give you advantages.

It's the school yard equivalent of putting all the best players on your team. So the others are always on a losing team.

joe40

Losing weight is hard and a financial incentive won't work.

There are plenty of people with weight issues spending 1000s every year between weight watcher/slimming world/ unused gym membership etc.

Some obese/ overweight people may have given up and don't care ( bit like the committed smoker) but the vast majority are would love to lose weight.

I know in one way is is easy maintain a calorie deficit over a long time and you will lose weight, but that is difficult. The human brain can be a formidable foe.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119720337#Comment_119720337

Basically remove sick people. Lol.

https://youtu.be/JAk448volww

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119720582#Comment_119720582

You're victim blaming any who ends up needing health services regardless of they ended up there.

Not to mention a complete ignorance of how the human body works.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119720885#Comment_119720885

How do you avoid dying then if sickness is not inevitable. How do you avoid problems you are born with.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119720582#Comment_119720582

Unfortunately it is inevitable. We aren’t immortal or indestructible.

A huge percentage of us will, for example, get cancer and all sorts of other random things. Many of them are just random.

You can mitigate obvious risks it to some degree like not smoking or knocking back huge amounts of alcohol, eating fairly healthily and getting normal amounts of exercise, but that’s all really.

If you’re getting into blaming people for getting cancer, heart disease, arthritis etc etc you are really going down some kind of moralising about health, which is a road to nowhere.

It’s like those arguments that someone “beat cancer” by “fighting it”. It’s great for someone’s state of mind if they manage to get the all clear, but in reality it’s down to access to tech and good luck.

It’s awful for someone who gets cancer and it turns terminal and they just get sicker no matter what they do, to hear how someone supposedly beat it because of someone has a notion that they have some amazing moral fortitude.

A huge % of health issue are just down to some random encounter with a virus, bacteria, a system breaking down or a cell copying error.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119721371#Comment_119721371

Your argument was you can avoid being sick. or dying for that matter. A complete sweeping generalisation. Its utter nonsense. Trying to roll back now with qualifying statements.

Wanderer78

whats the craic with conservatives and their use and understanding of the term 'personal responsibility', it comes across as if they truly get off on it, without being able to understand the fundamental complexities of life for others....

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119721512#Comment_119721512

It's not my fault your comments are so sweeping and simplistic to be inane.

Flinty997

Don't take medical advice from people who think we don't need hospitals.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119719885#Comment_119719885

the poor state of the HSE would increase further if we are having to give out rebates to a few million at a thousand euro a pop and compensate the gps for the extra work load.

the way to deal with actual expense of the HSE is to do a route and branch review of what the money given to it is actually spent on.

ah it's an optin program now? sure it is because you have to shift the goal posts i guess.

yes, some of the poor health of some of the general public is in a state, hence why education similar to how we have been dealing with smoking is the only way out of it, but also dealing with the reality that people will make choices we may not agree with.

walshb

There’d be some money made if it applied to people over the BMI normal range. Probably 60 percent the adult male population, and 50 percent female.

obesity? Not sure on the BMI figure for obesity, probably 29/30

Greyfox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119722659#Comment_119722659

Amazing how some people just can't grasp how complex an issue like been overweight can be.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119722659#Comment_119722659

People get touchy when you suggest you get everyone out of hospitals with the power of positive thought.

https://youtu.be/USADM5Gk9Gs

ddarcy

Japan does the fat tax. Has worked quite well to. Obesity less than 5%.

it’s the Matebo Law

In 2008, it introduced the Metabo law, which required all men and women aged between 40 and 74 to have their waist measured by their employer on an annual basis. The limits were set to 33.5 inches (85cm) for men and 35.4 inches (90cm) for women, and anyone who breached these figures was required to attend weight loss classes funded by the employer's health insurance company

https://medium.com/illumination-curated/the-country-that-taxes-people-for-being-too-fat-356cacdc1d32

Quazzie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119723020#Comment_119723020

Bigger for women?

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119723035#Comment_119723035

Their hips don’t lie 😂

Flinty997

It's was already one of the lowest in the world before the law.

But it has it stopped the trend?

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00853/amp/

Most data seems to compare Japan with other countries. Not historical trends in Japan itself.

maccored

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119722769#Comment_119722769

wont be long til the suggested 'obesity tax' gets a friend in the ' Ginger Hair Tax', 'talking too loud' tax and the 'Daring To Complain Law'. Anyone promoting this idea is a bit too totalitarian to me

Flinty997

I'm curious did it work in Japan. Thus far the data I can find suggest not long-term. But I'm open to correction.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119723355#Comment_119723355

How dreadful of them. They should be taken out and put against a wall and shot.

ddarcy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119723171#Comment_119723171

It’s only done for over 40s. I’d suspect that over 40 and obese leads to more problems. But then again completely ignores younger generations.

not saying it’s perfect, but they are implementing it. Doesn’t take much to lower the age in law as well