Craig, Haddaway Blast Emergency Obamacare Legislation

Maryland Lt. Governor candidate and state delegate Jeannie Haddaway pointed out fundamental flaws of the O'Malley-Brown Administration's emergency health care legislation which is intended to be a stop-gap measure for consumers experiencing enrollment difficulties on the state-run exchange.   The bill, SB 134, introduced today in the Maryland General Assembly, is the Administration's latest response to numerous technical challenges plaguing Maryland Health Connection.  

“The O'Malley-Brown Administration's ill-conceived emergency legislation merely shuffles people from the failing state-run Obamacare exchange into another state-run insurance program for a limited amount of time,” said Haddaway. “Trying to fix bureaucratic problems with more bureaucracy just creates more confusion and makes it more difficult for consumers.”

The bill shuffles people from Maryland Health Connection to another state-run program, the Maryland Health Insurance Plan, a high-risk insurance pool the state created in 2002.  The legislation requires that people must provide evidence that they could not sign up for coverage.  It is unclear how government officials plan to deal with those who may not have such evidence or simply gave up due to computer screen freezes and crashes. 

This transfer plan would only be in effect until March 31. That means consumers would have to apply for the Maryland Health Insurance Plan and then go back and re-apply to Maryland Health Connection.  The Administration is assuming that Maryland Health Connection would then by working properly. 

"I am very concerned that people will fall through the cracks and wind up without access to healthcare," said Haddaway. "The Administration does not know how many people are affected, nor what the cost to the taxpayer will be.  Moreover, if Governor O'Malley's health care point man and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown had been on top of this, there would not be a need for so-called 'emergency legislation."

Harford County Executive and Maryland Governor candidate David Craig, along with Haddaway, have previously called on the Administration to drop the emphasis on Maryland Health Connection and instead inform consumers of their rights to sign up for coverage directly through carriers or utilize the assistance of insurance brokers. 

"It is time to call on people who know what they're doing," said Craig. 

The Administration has previously estimated the measure will cost up to $10 million affecting anywhere from hundreds to thousands of consumers.