As we expected, discussion of setting premiums for public employees' health insurance based in part on whether they are overweight generated a substantial amount of controversy. West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency officials should continue to look at the proposal, however.

It was reported several days ago that Gov. Joe Manchin asked PEIA officials to look into a North Carolina program in which public employee health insurance premiums are based on part on whether those covered are overweight. Now, Manchin and PEIA officials are insisting that the governor never proposed a "fat tax."

Obviously, he did not. He merely asked the PEIA to check into what is being done in a nearby state.

As Manchin pointed out this week, "We've never proposed penalizing or shaming anyone." The governor has been a strong proponent of healthy lifestyles and of using state programs to encourage them, however.

Obesity often is a factor in health care. Being overweight frequently increases the risk of contracting certain diseases. Insurance companies have found that it often costs them more to pay for the health care of people who have body mass indexes in excess of certain levels. Those are facts, not an attempt to penalize or shame anyone.

Still, the idea that the PEIA should charge higher premiums for obese clients was not greeted favorably.

Now, PEIA officials say they are looking at what they term an entirely different approach - granting insurance discounts to clients who keep their weight within healthy limits. That would provide a financial incentive for healthy lifestyles.

Fine. We think that's a great idea. But, pray tell, what's the difference - other than terminology - in charging obese clients more and charging healthy-weight customers less?

Not all obese people are overweight by choice, of course. Some suffer from genetic problems that make it difficult, sometimes impossible, for them to maintain healthy weights. But PEIA officials are right to be looking at financial incentives meant to encourage healthy lifestyles in regard to weight, smoking and other factors that influence insurance costs - not to mention the quality of life for West Virginians.