COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Obese public employees would have to pay an extra $25 monthly for their state health insurance under a bill up for debate in South Carolina.
The measure sponsored by GOP Sen. Greg Ryberg of Aiken is on the agenda Tuesday in a Senate subcommittee. It would tie the surcharge to employees' body-mass index, a weight and height measurement.
The proposal follows a vote last August to increase health insurance premiums of public workers who smoke. The smoking surcharge is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2010. It was approved by a
five-member board that oversees the state budget.
Smokers called it an unfair increase, since smoking isn't the only bad habit that increases health care costs. South Carolina has among the nation's highest rates of obesity and diabetes.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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