This is something interesting I just learned from the Orange County Health Care Agency web site:
“(1)The California Healthcare for Indigents Program (CHIP) is funded through surtax on cigarettes and tobacco products. CHIP provides funding to hospitals, physicians, and community clinics based on uncompensated care provided to individuals not eligible for MSI or any other government-funded program. (2) The Emergency Medical Services Fund (EMSF) receives funds from surtax on cigarettes and tobacco products but is primarily funded through penalty assessments on penal code violations. The EMSF provides compensation to physicians and trauma hospitals for emergency room services when no other source of payment, public or private, is available.”
So basically when you smoke or chew tobacco, or break the law, you're helping poor people get health care. That sounds like a great moral justification to me, and isn't that what it's all about?
