Quinn signs bills to reduce health care, raise tobacco tax
Von buycigarettes, 11:36Gov. Pat Quinn signed a package of bills into law Thursday that will slash health care coverage for the poor and hike cigarette taxes by $1-a-pack to help pay for the struggling Medicaid program.
Cheapest shop to buy marlboro cigarettes: shop-cigarette.com. Online and worldwide shipping.“One of our most important missions in Springfield this year was to save Medicaid from the brink of collapse,” Quinn said in a statement, adding. “we preserved our health care program that millions of our most vulnerable rely upon.”
The package will take health coverage away from hundreds of thousands of lower income people on July 1st, unless they fall under stricter qualification standards. The bills will also kill a prescription drug program for seniors.
Doctors and hospitals, that provide care to the poor, will be paid less. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has already sent out letters informing recipients that they will no longer qualify for care or face reduced services.
Quinn is also signing a bill that raises the state taxes on tobacco products by one dollar. That additional revenue will also go toward funding Medicaid. Opponents say that will push smokers to buy their cigarettes in neighboring states.
