Alabama's New Law to Tax the "Big People"

We see it the news nearly every day: those segments showing anonymous "extra-large" people walking down a crowded street, all from the waist down. Only someone living under a rock wouldn't know that the United States is fattening up like a pig before Christmas. Every five commercials on television advertise a weight-loss product or expensive piece of equipment promising results. Even the internet has joined in, using cookies to stick weight-loss ads everywhere we look. Obviously, though, America keeps eating.

Now, Alabama is attempting a new strategy: forcing their overweight employees to pay more for their already expensive health insurance. The fee is $25 more per month for anyone over a BMI reading of 35. Already, smokers employed in Alabama pay a $24 extra fee per month to the Insurance Board. However, the catch is that if an overweight employee agrees to health screenings implemented in their work place, the fee is wavered. The program consists of regular BMI and weight tests, along with testing blood pressure and cholesterol. The controversial decision is set by the State Employees' Insurance Board is to begin in January 2010. Obese employees have a year to slim down or pay up.

Alabama's obesity problem has long been a concern in the state. The State Employees' Insurance Board director, William Ashmore states that "research shows someone with a body mass index of 35 to 39 generates $1,748 more in annual medical expenses than someone with a BMI less than 25, considered normal." Therefore, it is the intention of the board to save employees money in the long run by creating a sense of healthy awareness.

To others though, the idea of weight loss testing and monitoring through one's employment resembles something more akin to George Orwell's 1984. But is it like Big Brother -the oppressive government that controlled every aspect of a person's life? Or might it actually be beneficial? There is no question that obese people have more health problems later on in life, but for some, losing weight isn't as easy as just broiling chicken. The real question is whether this weight-loss program should be involved in the work place, amongst co-workers and clients.