US Bill To Fund Child Health Care From Cigarette Tax

8 April 1997

Last week, US Senators Edward Kennedy and Orrin Hatch were scheduled tointroduce legislation which would finance health care for children by raising taxes on cigarettes.

The bill would add 43 cents in federal taxes to the sale of a pack of cigarettes, with 66% of the revenue going to provide health insurance for the 10 million US children who are now uninsured. The remaining third would be put towards reducing the federal tax.

Speaking on the television program Face the Nation prior to introducing the legislation, Sen Kennedy said that the proposal would have the additional benefit of discouraging children from taking up cigarettes. Sen Hatch, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, commented that a user fee on smoking was appropriate because tobacco "is the single most preventable cause of premature death and illness" in the USA. The legislation is a "moderate to conservative" program that would let states establish their own regulations concerning which children would be eligible for insurance, he added.

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