Everyone hates to hear it, but I'll just go ahead and say it. It's a 'slippery slope.'
Honeslty, there is so much truth to the "everything in moderation" cliches. That being said, virtually anything and everything we do can be viewed as 'bad for us.' It's easy to take an extreme example like a 400 pound 5 year old or something like that, but when we start using the 'healthcare costs' as the umbrella under which we intervene (interfear) in peoples lives, we are only asking for trouble.
Way back when I was in high school, during a single season, no less than three players were severely injured (2 of which required some pretty extensive surgeries with pins and wearing those insane full leg brace-things for the rest of the year). Soccer, as many other activities, is a risky business. Who knows how much the medical care costs were for these kids. Should we ban sports?
We've already taxed tanning salons. Everyone knows that laying out in the sun year after year drastically increases the chance of skin cancer. Should we have people out on the beaches and pool decks issuing tickets for people who are taking some rays?
Every week thousands and thousands of kids and adults sustain terrible injuries while riding bicycles. Should we start banning bikes (or taxing the heck out of them)?
Some of these ideas may seem out there, but if we are going to constantly fall back on the "But the healthcare costs!!!" arguement, I see no reason why a whole host of goods and activities will not be taxed if not banned outright.
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