AARP, SEIU push higher cig taxes in Maryland

Ads to push higher cigarette tax
Groups want $1-a-pack increase devoted to expanded health care coverage
By Laura Smitherman
sun reporter
Originally published January 10, 2007

In an early push to get health care at the top of the legislative agenda in Annapolis, a broad coalition that includes AARP and labor officials announced yesterday an advertising and direct-mail campaign for a plan that would double Maryland's cigarette tax and use the proceeds to expand coverage for the uninsured.

AARP, the lobby for older Americans, launched a 60-second commercial that will air for 10 days on three area radio stations, while the 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is mailing 350,000 leaflets urging recipients to return an enclosed card to their state representatives. The union targeted 15 districts of key legislators, and women and seniors who are more likely to mail the card.

The proposal, dubbed the Healthy Maryland Initiative, would use a $1-a-pack tax increase to fund an expansion of Medicaid for low-income adults, drug treatment and a pilot program to help small businesses with health insurance costs.

Other legislative plans, some of which share similar elements, are also taking shape as this year's General Assembly session opens today. The cigarette tax increase had been proposed before, but this year supporters are hoping it gains traction after an election in which health care was high on voters' minds. An AARP survey last year, for instance, found that 86 percent of its members in Maryland said that expanding health insurance coverage for the uninsured should be a priority.


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