Sugar-sweetened drinks are displayed at a store on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Montpelier, Vt. A prominent Vermont economist is warning that a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages will send more Vermonters out of state to shop. Supporters of the measure says the state needs the revenue to pay for health programs, and that Vermonters need to be encouraged to drink less of the beverages, which have been tied to a nationwide increase in obesity nationwide.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
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Sugar-sweetened drinks are displayed at a store on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Montpelier, Vt. A prominent Vermont economist is warning that a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages will send more Vermonters out of state to shop. Supporters of the measure says the state needs the revenue to pay for health programs, and that Vermonters need to be encouraged to drink less of the beverages, which have been tied to a nationwide increase in obesity nationwide.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
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As other states begin setting up health insurance exchanges required under the Affordable Care Act, many are turning to Massachusetts which pioneered the online health insurance marketplace. (Jan. 24)
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In this Jan. 8, 2013 photo, business developer Robert Schultz poses for a photo outside his home office in Newton, Mass. Buying your own health insurance will never be the same. This fall, new insurance markets called exchanges will open in each state, the long-awaited and much-debated debut of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Schultz is a Boston-area startup business consultant who got his MBA in 2008, when the economy was tanking. Yet he was able to find coverage when he graduated and hang on to his insurance through job changes since. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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In this Jan. 8, 2013 photo, business developer Robert Schultz poses for a photo just outside his home office in Newton, Mass. Buying your own health insurance will never be the same. This fall, new insurance markets called exchanges will open in each state, the long-awaited and much-debated debut of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Schultz is a Boston-area startup business consultant who got his MBA in 2008, when the economy was tanking. Yet he was able to find coverage when he graduated and hang on to his insurance through job changes since. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
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This undated image provided by Bloom Health shows the Bloom Health website. In a major shift in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, companies such as Sears Holdings Corp. and Darden Restaurants Inc. are giving employees a fixed amount of money and allowing them to choose their own coverage based on their individual needs. (AP Photo/Bloom Health)
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FILE - This Jan. 30, 2012 file photo, an Aetna benefits card is photographed in Surfside, Fla. Aetna Inc. annoucned Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, that its third-quarter earnings rose 2 percent as lower-than-expected health care use and revenue gains helped the insurer trump Wall Street expectations. The Hartford, Conn., company recorded a $96 million pretax benefit in the third quarter because claims left over largely from the previous quarter came in lower than expected, which allowed the insurer to release money it had held in reserve. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
Vt. House panel passes beverage tax
MONTPELIER, Vt. (
AP) — A
Vermont House committee has reversed itself and approved a penny-an-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to pay for health care subsidies, but the idea appears still to have a bumpy road ahead.
The House Health Care Committee had defeated the measure on a 5-5 tie vote on Friday. But on Wednesday, the panel voted in two 7-4 tallies to advance the measure.
Supporters say the $24 million the tax will raise will help smooth the transition for people changing from state-subsidized health insurance programs including the Vermont Health Access Plan and Catamount Health to insurance to be purchased under the exchange being set up to comply with the federal health overhaul law.
But the sugary beverage tax lacks support in another key House committee and Gov. Peter Shumlin opposes it.
Tags:
gov. peter shumlin, house committee, united states, massachusetts, measure, vermont, democracy, health economics, health insurance, business, health care, federal health overhaul, healthcare reform, house health care, sugar-sweetened beverages, bumpy road, state-subsidized health insurance, tie vote, vermont house committee, vt. house panel, penny-an-ounce tax, beverage tax, health care subsidies, sugary beverage tax, health access plan, key house committee, catamount health
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