| (11/14/2003) - The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration has proposed a 25 cents per pack tax on cigarettes to help physicians pay their medical malpractice insurance premiums. According to the Inquirer, Rosemarie Greco, director of the state Office of Health Care Reform, said the tax would raise $181 million annually to pay the MCARE fund. Doctors’ payments are due in seven weeks, according the Inquirer. Rendell first proposed the 3-year partial subsidy for doctors’ MCARE premiums in June, but his administration took until this week to final a proposal to pay for it. Click here for the complete story. |