State board offers $75 million for expansion of Medicaid
coverage
The board of the state's program to insure residents otherwise
denied health coverage decided yesterday that it has $75
million more than it needs, and offered the money toward
an expansion of Medicaid coverage.
The one-time payment could help finance an ambitious expansion
of health coverage being considered by lawmakers. However,
it wouldn't be nearly enough to pick up the estimated $400
million cost of the plan expected to come out of the House
of Delegates.
The House is looking to pay for about half of that cost
with a $1-a-pack increase in tobacco taxes. The Senate and
Gov. Martin O'Malley have expressed support for covering
more uninsured, but so far have opposed the tobacco tax
increase this year, leaving the fate of the expansion in
doubt.
The House plan, crafted by Del. Peter A. Hammen, chairman
of the Health and Government Operations Committee, and strongly
backed by Speaker Michael E. Busch, calls for expanding
eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's Health
Insurance Program; premium subsidies to moderate-income
people and to small businesses; and a requirement that higher-income
uninsured buy coverage.
In all, the plan would extend coverage to an estimated
236,000 of the state's 780,000 uninsured.
Hammen said yesterday that his committee could vote on
the bill as early as next week. Several details have to
be worked out, though he said a tobacco tax increase would
be included.
"The question is what can we agree to over the next
couple of weeks; that will drive what kind of coverage we
can offer," he said at a recent hearing. "We're
up against the clock."
With the tobacco tax uncertain, Hammen has been seeking
other sources of funds, including the reserves of the Maryland
Health Insurance Plan (MHIP).
Richard Popper, MHIP executive director, said that as of
June 30 the plan had reserves of $111.5 million. Reviews
by actuaries and the Maryland Insurance Administration have
determined that amount is much more than the plan needs
in case of unanticipated claims, Popper said, allowing $75
million to be shifted to Medicaid.
MHIP provides insurance primarily to people who can't buy
it in the regular insurance market because they are in poor
health. It also covers some who lost employer-paid coverage,
such as Bethlehem Steel retirees when the company went bankrupt.
The plan is primarily financed by an assessment of 0.81
percent on every hospital bill. It also charges premiums
to those it insures.
