FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 15, 2013
Contact:
Steve Crim
ANNAPOLIS
- Lieutenant Governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Anthony
Brown indicated that he knew some Marylanders would lose their
healthcare coverage after the October 1 rollout of Maryland's implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), during an interview with WBAL TV's Jayne Miller. According to reports, 73,000 Maryland residents are expected to lose their healthcare coverage.
"The
O'Malley-Brown Administration has been one of the biggest cheerleaders
for the ACA and Lt. Governor Brown is responsible for implementing
Maryland's version of the law," said Larry Hogan, Chairman of the
nonpartisan grassroots organization Change Maryland. "Last night,
Anthony Brown admitted that he knew many Marylanders could not keep
their insurance despite promises to the contrary. By remaining silent,
he intentionally misled thousands of mothers, fathers, and children who
depend on health care insurance for the treatment they need."
During
the interview, Brown stated he knew that healthcare plans would no
longer be available under Maryland's implementation of the ACA.
"As
Lt. Governor, Anthony Brown has an obligation to serve the best
interests of all Marylanders, which means being straightforward about
the implementation of this new law," Hogan said. "Despite all the
promises from the O'Malley-Brown Administration that the state was ready
for this roll out, the exchange has been plagued with one problem after
another."
Since the start of the exchange on October 1, not only have 73,000 plans been cancelled, but the state has delayed
the implementation of the small business exchange to April, 2014 – 4
months after the federally mandated deadline. Additionally, the
Maryland Health Benefit Exchange has released inflated numbers of
enrollment – over-reporting by over 3,000 enrollees. The exchange
released a report that 4,651 people had enrolled in a new healthcare plan by October 31, while an official report from the White House indicates that only 1,284 people had enrolled by November 2.
"Marylanders
deserve to know whether or not people are enrolling in the Health
Benefit Exchange because ultimately, the success or failure of the
program will have a direct impact on their own health insurance," said
Hogan. "Brown's failures have given us zero confidence that the state
even knows how many people have enrolled.
"It's
time for Mr. Brown to come clean with Marylanders, take responsibility
for the problems of the state exchange, and personally apologize for
misleading the public. Regardless of how anyone feels about the new law,
Anthony Brown obviously put partisan politics ahead of the people he
was elected to represent. This falls 100% in his lap," Hogan concluded.
###
Affordable Care Act rollout potentially thorny for Anthony Brown
WBAL TV 11, November 14, 2013
Delayed again: Maryland's small business health exchange will not open until April
Washington Post, November 12, 2013
Report from the Maryland Health
Benefit Exchange about Maryland Health Connection, the state-based
health insurance marketplace, as of Friday, November 1, 2013
Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, November 1, 2013
Health Insurance Marketplace: November Enrollment Report
Department of Health and Human Services, November 13, 2013
So I'm a small employer with a handful of employees. My employees and my family are covered by a small group policy that expires on April 30th next year. My employees aren't eligible to get insurance on the exchange because they have employer insurance. We can't even begin to look for a new policy because the State has delayed the small business insurance thing until April. That means we will have 30 days to search, compare and purchase health insurance, and that's assuming the State doesn't screw things up further between now and April. Grrrrr.
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