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Car Tag Fee for Trauma Care 'Easy Choice'
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Trauma care in Georgia is better than it was a year ago...even without an increase in funding -- so says a member of the state’s trauma care commission.
"The fact that we have the funding (around $20 million currently) and people know we’re working on it and we’re working to organize this system makes our case every day”, says Ben Hinson, a commission member and president/CEO of Mid Georgia Ambulance.
In the past three years, state funding for trauma care has been cut from $58 million--down to $23 million. And now commission members are operating on a worst case budget given the economy—down to about $20 million.
But Hinson is hopeful. He says a bill passed by the General Assembly to ask voters to approve a $10 car tag fee for dedicated trauma funding could be the positive tipping point.
Hinson says this should be an easy sell to voters:
“I have been there when the 6-year-old died because there wasn’t enough resource to take care of her. So my thing is real easy—does the beautiful 6-year-old girl die or do you save 10 bucks?”
Approval of the fee would generate about $80 million specifically for trauma care.
Hinson says that money could finally build a network and go far beyond simply maintaining a bare-bones status quo.
Tags: Georgia, funding, Georgia Legislature, trauma care, Ben Hinson, medical care, Mid Georgia Ambulance, trauma care commission