FitSugar

Let's Get Political, Political . . .

FitSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Early last year I told you about the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act. And unfortunately, it has not been approved so we're not yet allowed to pay for our health club dues, physical fitness programs, certain exercise equipment, and children’s sports league fees with pretax dollars.

Now HealthClubs.com has made the process of bringing this act to the attention of US senators and representatives very, very easy. There's a prewritten letter that you can copy and paste (or write your own letter). The site will then send out your correspondence to your state's officials.

I don't know about you, but I'd love to be able to use $1,000 pretax dollars a year towards my fitness and health. If nothing else it shows that my country, the one where some are worried about having a president that is too fit, is truly as concerned about my health as all the reports claim.

I just sent a letter to my congresswomen and representative, did you?

Source

Exercise Your Rights

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:23:45 -0800

A lot of us want to join a gym but just can't afford the monthly dues and initiation fees. Isn't it amazing with obesity and heart disease on the rise that lawmakers are not doing something about the high prices?

Turns out that there are two bills proposed (2929 in PA and 3714 in NJ) that are aiming to lower the cost (mainly by lowering taxes) on health club memberships for the public. To learn more about the issues and to write your senators online (telling them to support the bills), visit Get Active's website.

FitSugar Gets Political: Sign the PHIT Petition

FitSugar — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Do you wish your gym membership were a little less hard on the wallet? It could be...

A new bill in Congress aims to help your family get healthier and save money while doing it. The Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act would let Americans put up to $1,000 a year in pre-tax Health Savings Accounts (HSA) to pay for exercise programs, gym memberships, fitness equipment and sports-league fees for kids and adults. This could save you up to 30 percent on your family's exercise-related costs -- That's about $300 per year.

The bill, which was introduced this year by Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL), has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means for hearings. Sign the petition on FitnessMagazine.com to help persuade the committee chairman to schedule the hearings and propel the bill forward.

I did it and it takes about 30 seconds.