Posted by
Michael on Wednesday, December 05, 2007 12:28:29 PM
There's a good article in Slate today called "Should the government pay you to lose weight?" It
puts a good argument for why health insurance and employers should give
financial incentives to those who lose weight. It's problematic towards
the end when the writer, Jake Halpern, proposes that the government take up this mantle:
One
of the main obstacles to such efforts is that employers and insurers
are often reluctant to make long-term investments in employees. The
average tenure of an American employee is just four years. The
disincentives this creates for companies raises the question of whether
state or local governments should follow Mayor Buonanno's lead. Indeed,
this is a mayor who may have a great deal to teach us. His other social
initiatives include a plan to supply the good people of Varallo with
Viagra. "Ensuring the wellbeing of one's fellow citizens also means
making sure they have the possibility of a serene sex life," the mayor
has declared. Ahh, to be Italian.
This is exactly
the type of stuff that causes us to have a ridiculously large
government. It ishould be the perogative of the employers and health
insurance companies to try out something like this. Having the
government take it up would be a total waste of taxdollars on the part
of Americans who aren't effected by obesity or don't see it as a
problem.