A tax on fatter fliers, and New York health premiums overtake rent

Good day for middle-seat passengers, Bad day for New York freelancers

GOOD DAY FOR: Middle-seat passengers, after United Airlines joined Southwest and a few other carriers in making overweight passengers buy two seats if they cannot fit in one and no alternative can be arranged. United said it received more than 700 complaints of “seat infringements” last year. European carrier discount Ryanair is taking a different approach, proposing a “fat tax” that presumably will charge heavier passengers a higher ticket price. (BusinessWeek)

BAD DAY FOR: New York freelancers, as the price of health insurance in the city has jumped so high that the average monthly premium for a family, $4,354, is now higher than rent on a two-bedroom apartment in the Financial District. The high rates follow years of healthy New Yorkers dropping out of the insurance pool, leaving the system increasingly full of costly sick beneficiaries. (New York Post)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us