The highlight of this summer’s debt deal was the clawback of $27 billion in unused pandemic-era funding. Congress and the president determined that the money shouldn’t sit idle in 87 separate accounts. Unfortunately, in a rush to hold hearings, pass the annual military spending bill, and leave Washington for the August recess, the money seems to have been forgotten again.
Money forgotten is money wasted. Washington’s current political makeup means the money won’t likely be used to reduce the deficit. Therefore, Congress should use the money wisely.
One way is to create public awareness campaigns urging consumers to, of all things, chew sugar-free gum. Dentists have long promoted sugar-free gum’s benefits because the mechanics of chewing promote better saliva flow, which creates a helpful bacteria and cavity-reducing alkaline environment for teeth. Healthy mouths build healthy bodies. Research suggests that gum disease develops an increased chance of a heart attack or stroke. Further research gave sugar-free gum credit for reducingthe stress hormone cortisol, which leads to improved mental function and lower chances of stress-related outcomes like depression, heart disease and chronic pain.
One pilot program could be implemented immediately. The Farm Bill is set for renewal when Congress returns from its summer recess in September. This catch-all legislation funds national agriculture, forestry, conservation and nutrition programs for five years. One of its best-known programs is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. The Department of Agriculture administers the program and sets the limits of what foods its low-income recipients can buy tax-free.
While sugar-free gum can be bought with food stamps, a pilot program aimed at promoting the health benefits of sugar-free gum to recipients could bear outsized results. Low-income Americans are most at risk of mental health problems and chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. Increased awareness of the benefits of sugar-free gum could guide SNAP recipients toward healthier food choices — a public health win.
Another high-risk population is obese people, a well-documented public health issue that is linked to various diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension. Many obese people would benefit from new weight-loss drugs recently gaining Food and Drug Administration approval. While there has been a near-term shortage of these drugs due to their popularity, it is waning and there is no reason to avoid promoting their benefits for chronically obese patients.
Every weight-loss medication depends heavily on successful lifestyle and dietary changes. Sugar-free gum can come alongside these solutions to help reduce food cravings, promote better control of calorie intake, and reduce stress and anxiety. At the same time, users of weight-loss drugs build healthy eating and exercise habits that will make their weight loss permanent. This may be especially important for those needing extra help early in a new lifestyle program.
A third pilot program that would cost taxpayers nothing is allowing Health Savings Accounts to be used to buy sugar-free gum.
An HSA is a savings account that allows users to set aside a part of their paychecks tax-free to pay for out-of-pocket health expenses that insurance plans don’t usually cover. They can pay for deductibles and copays, but there is also an extensive list of medical items and treatments that the HSA will cover. If the government will let you buy essential oils and sunscreen with your HSA, there’s no reason it shouldn’t let you buy sugar-free gum, too, given all the research showing how beneficial it can be.
This proposal wouldn’t increase the burden on employers and wouldn’t require consumers to change any habits. Best of all, it wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime!
The government has wasted a lot of money on a lot of things. Taxpayers rarely get their money back, so being able to repurpose more than $20 billion that will otherwise likely go to waste is a no-brainer — and so is following the science on something as simple as sugar-free gum.
Nothing excites elected officials like saying they are following the science. That’s precisely what Congress can do by launching public awareness campaigns an low-cost pilot programs with sugar-free gum.