Orange County To Use Tobacco Settlement Funds To Finance Care at Medical Clinics
Orange County is planning to use most of the funds it will collect in fiscal year 2004-2005 from the national tobacco settlement to finance operations at community medical clinics and to cover charity care costs at local health care facilities, the Orange County Register reports. The county expects to receive about $24.6 million from the settlement for FY 2004-2005, which begins July 1. On Tuesday, county supervisors also voted to expand a program that provides qualified seniors with free transportation to nonemergency physician visits. The tobacco settlement funds are allocated to such programs according to general categories approved by local voters in 2000; 23% of the funds go to emergency department physicians, 20% to community clinics and 19% to elderly health care programs. In addition, $1 of every $8 goes to fund smoking cessation efforts (Orange County Register, 6/10).
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