Soda Tax Could Cut Health Care Costs In S.F. Area By $54.9M Over 10 Years
If the ballot initiatives to tax sugary beverages pass, the number of diabetes cases in the three California cities where voters are weighing in on them would drop an estimated 4 percent by 2018.
Sacramento Business Journal:
Soda Taxes On The 2016 Ballot Could Eventually Save Millions In Healthcare Costs
The soda taxes popping up on ballots in cities across the U.S. could lead to a major drop in sugary beverage consumption and millions of dollars in healthcare savings. Soda tax initiatives under consideration in California would result in a 20 percent drop in soda consumption, according to a new study out Thursday from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The resulting reduction in obesity and diabetes would slash healthcare costs in the San Francisco Bay Area by $54.9 million over 10 years, the study's authors said. The study was released just ahead of the Nov. 8 vote on the measures in three California cities — San Francisco, Oakland and Albany. The proposals would tax soda at a rate of 1 cent per ounce. (Hall, 10/28)