PITTSBUGH TRIBUNE REVIEW: Uninsured Pennsylvanians and health care advocates yesterday criticized state leaders’ plan to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars of state tobacco settlement money to the general fund after ending a low-income insurance program.
“This money is not for the state to steal. They can steal our tax money,” John Kitchen, 47, an uninsured resident of Eighty Four, said during a half-day hearing Downtown. Auditor General Jack Wagner, D-Beechview, hosted the hearing in Pittsburgh City Council chambers.
Wagner scheduled hearings around the state to draw attention to $1.34 billion in tobacco settlement money which he said was spent on non-health-related programs during the past 10 years. Hearings are scheduled today in Erie, May 3 in Scranton and May 11 in Philadelphia… (more)
