No pain, no gain. Is a 'fat tax' the ultimate solution to the health budget blow-out? Alt-TMR reports
Federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, today announced details of a proposal to introduce legislation into the parliament which would see the increasing burden of obesity on the Australian healthcare system put on a “user pays” basis through the tax system.
Hunt told The Alternative Medical Republic that obesity had now surpassed the tobacco problem as the number two contributor to the burden of disease in Australia, and that like smokers, the health budget couldnât continue to fund people who âat the end of the day are just being lazyâ.
âIf nothing changes in our approach to combatting obesity, Australia will see 2.4 million more people with the problem by 2025. This is going to cost the healthcare system an additional $88 billion in direct and indirect costs. Iâve got a report here from one of those really expensive accounting firms with only initials in capitals that says all his stuff.â
Hunt said that obesity did not fit the criteria of a disease. This was despite the American and Canadian Medical Associations both recently reclassifying obesity as a disease and the RACGP discussing the concept locally.
âSome do-gooder doctors are starting to tell us that obesity is a disease. They remind me a lot of those bloody troublemaking climate scientists,â he said.
Hunt told alt-TMR that âpretty clearlyâ obesity was falling into the same category as tobacco and smokers.
âItâs about self control and self respect. We need to start sending signals to these people that we arenât prepared to pay for their obesity-related health issues later in life if they are just going to sit on the couch all day eating iced vovos and binge watch Netflix,â Hunt said.
âBesides, no one likes being fat anyway. And no-one wants to date a fat person. Look at who gets voted off first always on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here⌠always the fat one. Tziporah is hanging on by her fingernails. We only like her because we remember what she looked like thin. So this is a win-win. Everyone ends up happy.â
Details of how the new tax might work arenât clear, but alt-TMR understands that the government plans to introduce a new section on our tax returns where you have to declare your BMI, certified either by your GP or local pharmacist.
Depending on your score, your tax bracket may will be altered slightly, on a sliding scale, depending on how far you are into the “overweight” and then “obesity” range.
As with any normal tax return, not all returns will be checked for accuracy, but Hunt said tax audits now would include a weigh-in for taxpayers and if they have lied about their BMI there would be severe fines, just as there are for making false claims.
The AMA and RACGP have been contacted for comment but have so far refused to respond, quite possibly because alt-TMR is most definitely reporting  a load of crap. Seems to be all the rage.
