Hospitals again call for tobacco tax

The Sun Herald, 4/30/8

The Mississippi Hospital Association is calling on Gov. Haley Barbour to include a tobacco tax in the special session for Medicaid.

The association issued a statement Wednesday asking the governor to put all options on the table during the special session. Barbour hasn’t set a date to call lawmakers back to the Capitol to resolve Medicaid’s funding problem for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The health care program for more than 468,000 children, elderly and disabled needs millions more in state funding, which is used to draw additional funds from the federal government.

Barbour and some lawmakers have proposed levying an assessment, or what some have called a tax, on hospitals. The association is opposed to the plan.