Healthcare reform has long been under debate, and it is becoming less and less economically feasible to pay for all the disease in America. President Barack Obama’s new comprehensive healthcare renovation could cost $1.2 trillion, and the Senate is looking for ways to pay for it. Government officials are now considering a solution that could potentially increase healthcare funds as well as help combat obesity: levying a tax on junk food or sugary beverages. Experts say that a three-cent tax increase on 12-ounce containers of soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, ready-to-drink teas, and certain juices would amount in $24 billion over the next four years, in addition to improving Americans’ overall health.
Soda is one of the most harmful products in the food supply, according to The Wall Street Journal. It is a leading cause of diabetes, obesity, bone loss, and kidney problems. Proponents of the tax claim that the additional tariff would be good for U.S. healthcare by increasing revenues and bringing down the costs of obesity problems. It also seems reasonable then that people who put themselves at higher risk for health problems by drinking soda should have to pay more for healthcare.
A tax on soda, however, is far from a fair or reasonable solution. Critics say that the tax would hit poor Americans the hardest, since most soda consumers are low-income, undereducated people. The main beverage lobbyists say the tax would most affect those who can least afford it, but still would not be large enough to deter consumption. Others emphasize that with our current economic situation the government should not be raising taxes on simple pleasures. Instead, lowering the price of healthy food could cause the same behavioral shift in diet.
In looking at past tax levies, such as those on cigarettes, revenue made from tax increases rarely ever goes to the intended beneficiary. Usually the money is put into a general budget, so trying to fund healthcare through soda would not directly work as proposed. Some suggest that if the government truly wanted to cut sugar consumption and obesity along with saving money it could stop using taxpayer money to subsidize sugar in the first place.
The beverage tax is just one of several options being weighed in order to finance the new healthcare plan. The Obama Administration is taking measures to save $2 trillion over next decade. While taxing soda might not be the best solution for raising money, the government could still attempt to decrease consumption and obesity through consumer education, such as a Surgeon General warning about the health risks of sugar.
