Post by Logan on Apr 8, 2016 4:23:53 GMT -6
Oklahoma Health Care Authority official says cigarette tax is needed to help fund Medicaid system
A proposed $1.50-per-pack cigarette tax is needed to stabilize a Medicaid system in danger of collapse, Oklahoma Health Care Authority CEO Nico Gomez said Thursday.
Without a major cash infusion, many health care providers simply will stop seeing Medicaid patients, he said at an informational public meeting. A million people use the system yearly.
"We believe a $1.50-per-pack cigarette tax is the way to fund this," Gomez said. "Not because we want to pick on smokers. We know taking care of people who smoke costs us three and a-half times more money than people who don't smoke."
The tax would provide $182 million a year. Tax hikes like this require a three-quarters vote of the Legislature.
Read more: newsok.com/oklahoma-health-care-authority-official-says-cigarette-tax-is-needed-to-help-fund-medicaid-system/article/5490302
A proposed $1.50-per-pack cigarette tax is needed to stabilize a Medicaid system in danger of collapse, Oklahoma Health Care Authority CEO Nico Gomez said Thursday.
Without a major cash infusion, many health care providers simply will stop seeing Medicaid patients, he said at an informational public meeting. A million people use the system yearly.
"We believe a $1.50-per-pack cigarette tax is the way to fund this," Gomez said. "Not because we want to pick on smokers. We know taking care of people who smoke costs us three and a-half times more money than people who don't smoke."
The tax would provide $182 million a year. Tax hikes like this require a three-quarters vote of the Legislature.
Read more: newsok.com/oklahoma-health-care-authority-official-says-cigarette-tax-is-needed-to-help-fund-medicaid-system/article/5490302