South Carolina Attorney General Announces Receipt Of Over $78 Million Dollars in Annual Tobacco Settlement Payout

(Seneca, SC)—————South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced earlier this week that the state of South Carolina secured over $78 million dollars in its share of the annual tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Payout. 

In 1998, according to the release, the Attorney General’s Office joined 45 other states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories in settling claims with the then-four major U.S. cigarette manufacturers. The settlement provides states with annual payments in perpetuity to help reimburse the states for healthcare costs and harm caused by tobacco use. 

South Carolina’s payments, which have now totaled over $1 billion dollars, primarily goes to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control for the Medicaid program.