Gov. Martin O'Malley has said he wants Maryland to be a "national leader" in health care reform. Sometimes it's good to be a leader, but sometimes being a leader means you are the first to make costly mistakes. Following the lead of other states in implementing the new federal health care law would be better for both taxpayers and health care consumers in Maryland.
Governor O'Malley made his "national leader" remarks when he appointed officials to the board of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. This entity is a health insurance exchange, something the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) directs each state to set up. A health insurance exchange will provide a one-stop location for health insurance to be sold and is supposed to lower the cost of insurance through more choice and greater purchasing power for consumers.
Every state faces the question of whether to establish an exchange. Maryland is one of only a handful that have decided to implement one. Some states, such as Florida and Louisiana, have flatly refused. Others are still mulling their options. These holdout states have made a much wiser choice than Maryland.
Marc Kilmer is a Senior Fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute. He lives in Wicomico County with his wife and daughter. This article was originally published in the Baltimore Sun.
2 comments:
They definitely need to do some sort of reform. The payroll company we use won't even offer us benefit packages because we are a Maryland business. That's just not right.
You're right that it's not right. Maryland legislators have for years been putting restrictions on health insurance that's sold to individuals and businesses in Maryland. That has led many insurance companies to stop selling policies here. That reduces choice and it also drives up the cost of the policies that are sold here.
Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that any health insurance exchange will fix these problems. In fact, it's likely to make them worse.
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