Ventura County Tobacco Money To Boost Safety Net
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to approve a plan for how to spend $8.75 million over the 2007-2008 fiscal year in legal-settlement payments from tobacco companies, the Ventura County Star reports.
The tobacco payment is allocated annually as part of a settlement that tobacco companies reached with state governments in the 1990s.
About $4 million of the funding will go toward the Ventura County Medical Center clinics and other safety net providers for the uninsured.
The county also will allocate $50,000 for the Livingston Memorial Nurses Association and $136,000 for a new nursing laboratory at California State University Channel Islands. Both programs are aimed at reducing a nursing shortage.
Other funding recipients include:
- Anti-smoking programs;
- Children's medical services;
- Mental health services; and
- Public health programs.
The tobacco payments slowly are declining, resulting in a 5% budget reduction in most of those services (Biasotti, Ventura County Star, 6/13). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.