Bloomberg has supported taxing things like sugary drinks, soda in particular. I suppose this is what Payne is referring to here. I don’t see this as as bad idea because it will discourage the consumption of products that have been shown to lead to diabetes. Poorer populations have been shown to have higher rates of the disease than wealthier groups (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1618393/). Raising taxes on sugary drinks has the potential to drive down the prevalence of the disease in poorer populations, reducing their health care costs as a side benefit.
My personal opinion is that taxes raised via a soda tax should go directly to funding a public health care plan. I would advocate a similar national tobacco tax as well.
Bloomberg has supported taxing things like sugary drinks, soda in particular. I suppose this is what Payne is referring to here. I don’t see this as as bad idea because it will discourage the consumption of products that have been shown to lead to diabetes. Poorer populations have been shown to have higher rates of the disease than wealthier groups (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1618393/). Raising taxes on sugary drinks has the potential to drive down the prevalence of the disease in poorer populations, reducing their health care costs as a side benefit.
My personal opinion is that taxes raised via a soda tax should go directly to funding a public health care plan. I would advocate a similar national tobacco tax as well.