David Craig: Time for new Leadership on Maryland Health Exchange Board

As the oversight board charged with implementing Obamacare is expected to formally announce ditching the existing website today, Harford County Executive and Maryland candidate for Governor David Craig said much-needed reforms are still missing. Craig called on the Governor to appoint a new chair of the Board and replace others with individuals who have IT, healthcare and insurance-industry experience.

"For starters, the state health secretary needs to be replaced as Chair of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Board," said Craig, referring to Joshua Sharfstein. "His responses to the botched roll out of Maryland's exchange have been feeble and his leadership weak, and the Governor needs to take action that acknowledges this serious shortcoming."

The nine-member Exchange Board, which administers the Maryland Health Connection website, is weighted heavily towards government officials and university professors.
"When an organization is failing, leadership is replaced," said Craig. "I am deeply troubled that O'Malley believes people aren't the problem here - of course they are. The health secretary admits he couldn't control the contractors, so how is he going to control the new ones? The Governor would be doing everyone a favor by appointing an individual with experience in taking over troubled ventures.”

The state's top elected officials have been dropping hints for nearly a month that Maryland's exchange will switch to Deloitte Consulting in an attempt to replicate the success that Kentucky and Connecticut have had in utilizing a firm that has developed a functioning website.

"I am concerned that this new firm is in the driver's seat because they have a desperate and dysfunctional client," said Craig. "With taxpayers having spent a quarter of a billion dollars already, the state needs a board that has the experience for this complicated undertaking."

Craig also said Administration health care point man and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown needs to define his role.

“The Governor recently said that fixing the Maryland exchange is similar to changing a flat tire in addition to other poor analogies that attempt to dumb-down the serious problem of people being denied health care. If that’s how the Governor feels, then he should boot out the Lt. Governor from the backseat and make him assist those changing the tires.”

Craig released a plan at the beginning of this year to avoid the under-performing state health exchange and enable consumers to obtain health insurance through other means. The plan consists of ending the current emphasis on Maryland Health Connection and instead diverts marketing and outreach resources to promoting direct enrollment options through insurance carriers or utilizing the assistance of Maryland-based insurance brokers.