? what?s next?
The latest TIME highlights North Carolina?s latest nanny-state efforts:
North Carolina this year became the second state to approve an increase in out-of-pocket expenses for state workers who smoke and don’t try to quit or who are morbidly obese and don’t try to lose weight. Alabama was the first to pass what critics call a fat fee, in 2008, and several state insurance plans have started imposing a $25 monthly surcharge on smokers.
There’s even a push in Congress to let employers further link lifestyles to insurance premiums.
Once the ?public cost? of poor health becomes an overriding factor in political decisions, there?s no lifestyle choice that could survive a government onslaught. Karen Palasek recently described another aspect of the same problem.
