Minnesota Report
As we listen to the debate of whether the state should continue the Health Care Providers Tax, we keep hearing the argument because there is nothing else. This is not true. We have discussed the idea of a tax on sugar on high fructose-based products.
Even the industry is now running commercials discussing how Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi are working to reduce the amount of sugar in soda beverages and produce smaller size portions. They reference this as something “your mother” would agree with, but we believe the more effective manner to reduce consumption is to tax sugar a what it is a toxic substance.
The evidence is clear, early onset diabetes, childhood obesity, and heart disease are all attributable to high levels of glucose, i.e. sugar in the bloodstream and the long-term effects can be addressed if the consumers pay for the costs upfront. This is an example of a user fee being collected to render health care to the population affected.
We first discussed this February 21, 2019, Health Care Solution: Tax Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup.