Brief: SSB Excise Tax in 15 Largest Cities

This model-based analysis evaluated the impact of a city excise tax of $0.01/ounce of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Baltimore, Charlotte, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle.

The CHOICES microsimulation model for each of these 15 cities was used to calculate the costs and effectiveness of a city excise tax. This is a stochastic, discrete-time, individual-level, microsimulation model designed to simulate the experience of the city population from 2015 to 2025 and estimate the cases of obesity. Data are from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, NHANES, National Survey of Children’s Health, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and multiple longitudinal studies.

The results showed that municipal SSB excise taxes in these cities of $0.01/ounce will prevent more than 100,000 cases of childhood and adult obesity by 2025, prevent many new cases of diabetes, increase healthy life years and save more in future health care costs than the intervention costs to implement.

Rising rates of obesity represent one of the greatest public health threats facing the United States. Obesity has been linked to excess consumption of sugary drinks. Federal, state, and local governments have considered implementing excise taxes on sugary drinks to reduce consumption, reduce obesity, and provide a new source of government revenue.

This brief was developed by the CHOICES Project at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Funded by the JPB Foundation and Healthy Food America. Results are those of the authors and not the funders. The information in this brief is intended to provide educational information on the cost effectiveness of SSB taxes.