A
penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could generate $13
billion a year in tax revenues but save more in healthcare costs,
researchers say. The study, published in the journal Health Affairs,
estimated that, in a 10-year period, the penny-per-ounce tax could
reduce new cases of diabetes by 2.6%, eliminate as many as 95,000
coronary heart events, 8,000 strokes and 26,000 premature deaths –
totaling about $17 billion in medical costs avoided. Dr. Y. Claire Wang
of the Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health said the
tax would have the greatest impact among younger adults and men of all
ages, who drink more sugar-sweetened beverages than older adults and
women do. Sugar-sweetened beverages add about $174 billion per year to
diabetes treatment costs and $147 billion on other obesity-related
health problems, researchers said.
