Maryland Bill Would Impose Individual Health Insurance Mandates (Baltimore Jewish Life)

Wednesday Feb 21st, 2018

Maryland lawmakers are considering their own version of the Affordable Care Act. 

A coalition of legislators, health care advocates, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and clergy are backing bills to stabilize the individual insurance market. One bill that's getting the most attention would create an individual mandate. Residents without insurance would face a $700 fine or use that money for a down payment to purchase insurance.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said people are worried about the federal health care changes.

"They are scared that they'll be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, which, by the way, we all have them. They are things like migraines, depression, diabetes. Our residents are terrified," Wen said.

 

Related Stories

Lead poisoning cases fell 19 percent in Baltimore last year, even as more children tested for exposure (Baltimore Sun)

The number of Baltimore children with lead poisoning fell 19 percent in 2017, even as more children were tested for exposure to the powerful neurotoxin.

Statewide, the number of Maryland children found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood held steady even as the number of children tested increased by 10 percent, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment report released Tuesday.

Read the entire story.

Trump declared an emergency over opioids. A new report finds it led to very little. (Vox)

To much fanfare last year, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to declare a public health emergency over the opioid epidemic. “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump said at the time. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”

When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

Read the entire story.

Azar Unveils Plan to Help Pregnant Patients Quit Opioids (MedPage Today)

States will get help from the federal government integrating services for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid patients with opioid use disorder under a pilot program announced Tuesday by Health and Hu

Visit the Newsroom