Taxing drinks' sugar content, not beverage volume, may lead to more health benefits and savings

A new analysis of three different types of sugary drink taxes finds that taxes based on the amount of sugar in beverages could generate the most health benefits and save the most in health spending. Here's more from the study, which simulated what instituting the different tax types would look like: 

• Volume-based taxes: These taxes, which are calculated based on the volume of a sugary beverage, were associated with preventing 850,000 cardiovascular incidents and 269,000 diabetes cases. These taxes also reduced health care spending by more than $53 billion. 
• Tiered taxes: These have different taxation levels depending on the amount of sugar per 8 ounces, and could prevent 531,000 diabetes cases, while saving $105 billion in health spending. 
• Absolute content taxes: These include a flat tax based on the total amount of added sugar in a given drink, and could prevent 550,000 diabetes cases, and also save $105 billion in health care costs.