Tobacco Settlement Plan Raises Questions

As part of the FY 2000/2001 Governor's Executive Budget, the administration is proposing that the tobacco settlement proceeds be used to improve the health status of Pennsylvanians. Although we support this goal, there is one particularly troubling aspect of Governor Ridge's proposal for health insurance for the uninsured.

While we are in favor of allocating 40 percent of the tobacco settlement funds to expand health care insurance, we are stunned that the proposal excludes coverage for mental health treatment. This insurance plan designed by the administration is both discriminatory and extremely shortsighted.

A few years ago, when the General Assembly considered mental health parity legislation, all of the reputable data pointed to the cost effectiveness of mental health treatment. That has not changed. If coverage for mental illnesses is excluded from the package, the consumer of mental health services will remain effectively uninsured with regard to the conditions for which he or she most needs the coverage.

The amount of the tobacco settlement - somewhere between $397 million and $457 million - that is to be appropriated this year will be part of the budget bill. However, the particulars of how that money will be allocated will be covered in a separate piece of legislation. The General Assembly has delayed consideration of this issue until after the summer recess.

So there is still an opportunity to write to the governor and the members of the General Assembly to approve a "tobacco money" spending plan that contains a health insurance benefit (including mental health and substance abuse treatment as well as prescription plans) for a percentage of the uninsured population.