Washington’s Government-Run Health Care: A Maryland Job Killer

The Choice Facing Maryland:  Bob Ehrlich and Martin O’Malley fundamentally disagree over the future of health care in Maryland.  Bob believes in more choices for consumers based on market principles.  Martin O’Malley believes in nationalized health care that drives up costs, rations health care, and limits consumer choice. 

·         Increased Costs: Governor O’Malley supports Washington’s health care experiment will save Maryland money but Maryland’s Department of Legislative Services has estimated it will cost upward of $200 million over the next 10 years.  Governor O’Malley’s own Health Care Reform Coordinating Council predicts the administrative cost to manage Washington’s heath care experiment will be a minimum of $13 million a year.

·         Higher Taxes: Washington plans to pay for their government takeover of health care with nearly $570 billion in job-killing taxes on small businesses, investments and innovation – taxes that will drastically hurt Maryland businesses.

·         Fewer Jobs: According to the National Federation of Independent Business, the federal government’s employer mandate – which Martin O’Malley supports -- will cost the country 1.6 million jobs and $200 billion in economic activity in just five years.

They Said It…

·         O’Malley’s own Lt. Governor – Anthony Brown – admitted that their government-run health care mandates will lead to increase costs in Maryland. (Source: marylandreporter.com 7/26/10).

·         A University of Maryland economist said, “The new health care law will add huge costs to employers and higher premiums for individuals…Voila, even fewer dollars for consumers to spend on U.S. goods and more businesses offshoring jobs." (Source: The Gazette, 6/11/10)

·         Peter Marathas, a compliance adviser who spoke to Maryland employers about the federal plan, said, “there’s nothing in the bill that ‘fixes the spiraling cost of care’ and it still will leave some people uninsured, contrary to the stated purpose of the law.” (Source: marylandreporter.com 9/24/10)

Unfunded Medicaid Mandate

·         Washington’s government-run health care includes an unfunded Medicaid expansion mandate which will put more pressure on Maryland’s budget, which already faces $6 billion in out-year deficits. Even without this mandate, Maryland only has 86% of the revenue needed to pay for its expenditures.

·         The Heritage Foundation has estimated that under a federal mandate to expand Medicaid to adults, Maryland would see its Medicaid rolls swell by as much as 41.3 percent.

·         The growth in Medicaid spending is already contributing to Maryland’s budget problems and the federally-mandated expansion will only worsen this situation.

Individual And Employer Mandates

·         Government Mandates: Martin O’Malley even supports the individual and employer mandates which forces Marylanders and Maryland businesses to purchase health care whether they want to or not.  Washington’s employer mandate will hit Marylanders job-creators hard, penalizing companies that don’t provide full time employees with insurance.

·         Hurting Small Business:  Former Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Douglas W. Elmendorf, concludes that the taxes enacted through the employer mandate will cost businesses $52 billion from 2014 thru 2019.

·         Hurting Employees: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has reported the employer mandate will encourage businesses that do not provide full-time employees insurance to cut hours and salaried positions.  Washington’s individual mandate will hit Marylanders hard and break a promise not to raise taxes on middle class Americans.

The Bottom Line

·         Bob Ehrlich will fight to protect Marylanders from this unconstitutional O’Malley-backed overreach by the federal government. He understands the difference between what we want and what we can afford.  This version of government-run health care is simply too expensive for America and for Maryland.

·         Whether it is the debate over mass transit, the use of federal stimulus funds, or government-run health care, Martin O’Malley will promise Maryland voters anything – and send them the bill later.

·         To actually move Maryland forward we need a governor who isn’t afraid to say no to things we cannot afford and that includes Washington’s government-run health care.

·         Bob Ehrlich is the only responsible candidate in this race honest enough to deliver the truth to Marylanders about what we can afford and how to create jobs for families.