Arizona Proposes $50 Obesity Fee

Arizona’s governor on Thursday proposed levying a $50 fee on some enrollees in the state’s cash-starved Medicaid program, including obese people who don’t follow a doctor-supervised slimming regimen and smokers … “If you want to smoke, go for it,” said Monica Coury, spokeswoman for Arizona’s Medicaid program. “But understand you’re going to have to contribute something for the cost of the care of your smoking.”

 

Comments (6)

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  1. Brian Williams. says:

    To be fair, Arizona should also impose a $50 fee on anorexics who don’t eat enough.

  2. Larry C. says:

    This is actually very funny.

  3. Greg says:

    Seems fair to me.

  4. Devon Herrick says:

    Taxing people who are substantially overweight sounds like a better approach than taxing sodas (because they are blamed for making people fat).

  5. Nancy says:

    The true cost to the system is probably more than $50.

  6. Virginia says:

    Didn’t we decide a few weeks ago that obese smokers actually save money for the system due to early death? If that’s the case, Arizona ought to be buying smokes and burgers for everyone.