CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: Receives First Part of Tobacco Settlement

      Contra Costa County has received $7.2 million from the nationwide tobacco settlement -- the first installment of the $300 million, 25-year cut, the Contra Costa Times reports. Julie Kelley, assistant to County Health Director William Walker, said, "Most of the money will go (to) indigent people without health insurance. It will be easier for them to qualify for insurance. The county is the safety net for indigent people." Of the 72,000 patients treated each year at county health clinics, 22,450 have no insurance. The uninsured cost the county about $78 million each year, Kelley said. Some of the settlement will go toward identifying and signing up eligible people for coverage, as well as to fund health care prevention and treatment programs (Cuff, 2/8).