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Doctors Want Cigarette Tax Raise
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Georgia physicians are not giving up their fight to convince legislators to increase the state's cigarette tax.
They say raising the cost of cigarettes by a dollar will mean fewer people will smoke, and smokers will smoke less.
Cigarettes are responsible for 1 of every 5 deaths in the U.S.
Dr. Harry Heiman says smoking costs Georgia over 2-billion dollars a year.
"Those of us who don't smoke subsidize the health costs of smokers. Over 500-million we pay in Medicaid alone. Well, who's paying for Medicaid? I'm paying for Medicaid... You're paying for Medicaid..."
Heiman says raising the cigarette tax would save Georgia an estimated $350 million dollars a year.
Tags: Medicaid, cigarette tax, Smoking Tax, Georgia Smoking, Dr. Heiman