Access to Care Act to allow undocumented to purchase state insurance in MD
MARYLAND – Maryland lawmakers are moving forward with a bill that they say will cut costs for their constituents, with uninsured emergency room visits by allowing undocumented Marylanders to enroll in the state’s healthcare exchange.
The Access to Care Act would remove questions about citizenship from the criteria of eligible enrollees under Maryland’s current process to boost enrollment for the state-run healthcare exchange.
Maryland Healthcare for All Director Vinny DeMarco tells 47ABC that the state was able to drop the total insured population from 13 percent state-wide down to 6 percent resulting in savings for all who bought into the market.
DeMarco tells 47ABC that undocumented Marylanders can already buy private healthcare while jumping through significant hoops and paying high rates.
“That has reduced uncompensated care by over $460 million, which would have gone right into our premiums today. If you’re undocumented, you can’t have access to the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which means it’s a lot harder for you to get health insurance,” DeMarco said adding “When people don’t have health insurance, they go to emergency rooms and up goes all of our uncompensated care. And the more healthy people are in the health pool, the better it is for all our insurance premiums.”
The bill was introduced last session but while passing the house, failed to move forward in the Senate, something DeMarco says was a result of an unclear fiscal note and a belief by lawmakers that the state would be providing the healthcare free of charge to the undocumented population in the state.
“There were some concerns in the Senate that this would cost the state a lot of money, the bill has been modified to make clear it does not cost the state any money people would have to pay for their health care coverage, then we all benefit when there are more people insured,” DeMarco said stressing that the bill would still require enrollee’s to pay into the system in order to access care.
However, Lawmakers on the Eastern Shore remain unconvinced.
In a statement to 47 ABC WMDT Delegate, and Chair of the Eastern Shore Delegation Chris Adams said: “this would be untenable public policy when access to care and the escalating cost of that care remain top issues for citizens in my District and this State.”
