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

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)

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