(The Center Square) – Georgia’s share of its tobacco settlement that goes toward cancer care will dwindle, but the reason is not unexpected, a health care expert told state lawmakers.
The Peach State’s Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement allocates 9% to the Department of Health for cancer-related activities. The settlement between the states and four tobacco companies, first reached in 1998, splits the remainder of the money, with the majority of it going toward cancer care for low-income uninsured Georgians.
The estimated amount allocated to cancer care for fiscal year 2024 is higher than the previous year – up to $13.82 million from $13.74 million. It’s 9.3% of the more than $148 million fund, according to a presentation to the Georgia House Study Committee on Cancer Care Access.
The money received by the state is based on tobacco sales.
“If you’re successful in what you are doing, it means that less people should be using tobacco, which means that there’s less profit, which then means that each year your MSA funds will likely decrease over time,” said Dr. Chris Parker, director of the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University.
The study committee is looking at the lack of access to quality cancer care. Georgia’s cancer rate of 472 diagnoses per 100,000 people is higher than the national rate of 436 per 100,000, state epidemiologist Cherie Drenzek of the Department of Health told the committee at its Thursday meeting held in Gainesville.
Georgians in rural counties, defined as those with less than 50,000, have higher cancer rates than those living in urban areas. McDuffie County in eastern Georgia has the highest number of cancer rates among men, with 694.4 cases per 100,000, followed by Chattahoochee County, with 670.5 per 100,000.
But most of the 42 hospitals accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer are in non-rural areas, Drenzek said.
The study committee meets again Tuesday in Albany at the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. The committee will use the information gleaned during the hearings for a report that will be presented to the House.
