Maryland

Maryland lawmakers approve easier path for undocumented immigrants to buy insurance

Published

10 months ago

March 8, 2024

Maryland lawmakers approve easier path for undocumented immigrants to buy insurance

Maryland lawmakers are on track to allowing undocumented immigrants to buy health insurance on the stateâs insurance exchange â though theyâll still need to pay full price and wonât get any government subsidies.

The Maryland Senate gave approval to the change on a 34-13 vote on Friday afternoon. That followed approval in the House of Delegates on a 101-34 vote in late February.

A few largely procedural steps remain â each chamber passing the otherâs version â before the measure goes to Gov. Wes Moore for his consideration.

The goal of the change is to help make a dent in the stateâs population of people who lack health insurance.

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About 6.1% of state residents are uninsured, and officials estimate that about 30% of them â 112,000 â are immigrants who lack legal documentation. Theyâre currently banned from using the state health insurance exchange to shop for and purchase insurance plans.

âIt helps some people who get sick, get better. Nothing wrong with that,â said Sen. James Rosapepe, a Prince Georgeâs County Democrat, as he explained his vote on Friday.

âWeâre excited that, pending approval from the federal government, all Maryland residents will be able to use Maryland Health Connection to compare and purchase private health plans,â said Michele Eberle, executive director of Maryland Health Benefit Exchange.

The health exchange already has a version of the site in Spanish and a Google translate feature for other languages, as well as a call center capable of offering help in more than 200 languages â all in an effort to make buying insurance as accessible as possible.

If the bill withstands the final steps of the legislative process and is approved by the governor, the state would have to ask the federal government for a waiver to allow undocumented immigrants to use the health exchange. If that waiver is granted, it could take until 2026 for the health exchange to begin accepting undocumented immigrants, according to a nonpartisan analysis of the bill.

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Opening the health exchange up to undocumented immigrants would not initially cost the state any money, as no subsidies are involved and the exchange reported that it can accommodate any increased demand with existing staffing and resources.

Members from several organizations held a rally on Lawyers Mall outside the State House in Annapolis on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. They advocated for a series of bills to address health care access and affordability. (Pamela Wood)

The bill spurred contentious debate in the House of Delegates, with Del. Mark Fisher, a Calvert County Republican, calling it an âabsurdly ridiculous bill.â

Del. Joseline PeÃ±a-Melnyk, chair of the health committee, said itâs the latest step in attacking the stateâs rate of uninsured residents. Before the federal Affordable Care Act â dubbed âObamacareâ by many â the state had 756,000 people who were uninsured.

PeÃ±a-Melnyk described a series of subsequent actions that have brought the number of uninsured down to 350,000 people: Expanding Medicaid, funding plans on the health exchange with a tax on insurance companies, expanding subsidies for young adults and using tax returns to connect eligible people to the health exchange.

Helping people get insurance plans means better care for them and lower costs for the whole system, said PeÃ±a-Melnyk, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Prince Georgeâs and Anne Arundel counties.

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âWhere are these people going to get their care? You know where they go?â she asked. âThey go to the emergency room. Maryland has the worst emergency wait times in the entire nation.â

The Access to Care Act was supported by four of the key caucuses in the General Assembly: the Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus, the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus, the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and the Maryland Legislative Jewish Caucus. The caucus leaders wrote in a letter of support that the bill is âa financially responsible solution to improve healthcare access and affordability.â

They also noted that the bill will help families of mixed status, meaning some are legal residents and others are not. âThis inclusive approach recognizes the diverse makeup of our communities and addresses the logistical and emotional barriers these families face in securing health coverage,â the caucus leaders wrote.

In the Senate, some Republicans raised concerns that Maryland has continually made the state more welcoming for people to come here illegally.

âWeâve done everything imaginable to have a flashing neon sign that says, âHey, come here!,ââ said Sen. Justin Ready, a Carroll County Republican. The stateâs infrastructure just canât handle the needs of more undocumented immigrants, he said.

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âWe canât continue to throw out a welcome wagon and add more and more cost to our citizens,â he said.

But supporters counter that the measure will actually save money.

When people without insurance need care, they go to emergency rooms that are required to help them regardless of ability to pay. The costs of that uncompensated care are spread out among everyone else who has insurance.

âWhat that means is all of us end up paying for their care,â said Sen. Clarence Lam, a Democrat representing Howard and Anne Arundel counties.

Over the last 10 years, reducing the uninsured population from 13% to 6% has resulted in a savings of $460 million in that uncompensated care, according to a recent study, said Vincent DeMarco of Maryland Health Care for All.

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âThis is a great day for Maryland because we all benefit when more people have access to health insurance coverage,â he said.

While the debate was civil in the Senate on Friday, the bill sponsor, Sen. Antonio Hayes, said the rhetoric has been worse beyond the State House.

âOutside of here, Iâve gotten really scathing messages, including personal threats to me,â the Baltimore Democrat said.

Traci Kodeck, CEO of HealthCare Access Maryland, a nonprofit that works to increase health plan enrollment, said the bill could help many people.

âIâm excited about the potential of this bill,â Kodeck said. âWe are already working with the community so I donât feel like itâll be a difficult challenge for us to connect with them.â

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, a nonprofit carrier that is the stateâs largest insurer, supported the Access to Care Act, said Rebecca Hollamon, a CareFirst spokesperson.

âPeople without insurance coverage have inadequate access to care compared to those who are insured, and when people do not have insurance, the cost of care can be debilitating,â she said.

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Maryland

UCLA can't keep pace in second half during loss at Maryland

Published

5 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

UCLA can't keep pace in second half during loss at Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Three days after calling his players “soft” and “delusional” in their estimation of their abilities, Mick Cronin wasn’t around to offer a final assessment Friday night.

The UCLA coach was in the locker room, having been ejected with five minutes and 14 seconds left after receiving two rapid-fire technical fouls with his unraveling team down by nine points.

It wasn’t the final indignity for his team. Far from it.

UCLA couldn’t get out of its own way inside the Xfinity Center, the No. 22 Bruins stumbling to a 79-61 loss to Maryland that represented a season-worst third consecutive defeat.

Being soft wasn’t the primary problem on this night. Holding on to the ball or throwing a pass without it being stolen were the big challenges confronting the Bruins.

UCLA committed 21 turnovers, tying its worst showing of the season, while getting outmuscled by another team. If this was a crossroads, then the Bruins (11-5 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) certainly took the wrong turn.

Forward Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 points and guard Trent Perry added 10 off the bench, becoming the only Bruins to reach double figures on a night the team shot 41.5% to Maryland’s 54%. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the Terrapins (12-4, 2-3) with 27 points.

In need of a confidence boost, UCLA’s Dylan Andrews followed a pull-up jumper with a tough turnaround baseline jumper to pull his team within 53-47 with 12:36 left.

But a flurry of turnovers followed and an irate Cronin was quickly tossed after apparently voicing his displeasure with the referees.

It was only a little more than two years ago that UCLA came here and bludgeoned the Terrapins, leading by as many as 30 points in the first half of a runaway victory. That sort of showing felt like a distant memory Friday.

There were some coming-of-age moments in the first half for Perry, who played with increasing confidence the longer he was in the game.

Among his highlights were a backdoor reverse layup off a pass from Skyy Clark, a steal of a cross-court pass and an offensive rebound that he followed with a driving layup. Perry’s seven points by halftime were more than twice as many as the three points he had collected in the previous four Big Ten games while looking shaky during his brief stints on the court.

UCLA’s 40-36 halftime deficit could have been considered something of a victory for the Bruins considering they committed 11 turnovers — several while having the ball stripped — and allowed Maryland to shoot 51.7%.

There was nothing worthwhile left to come for the Bruins.

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Maryland

Macy's closing stores in Maryland and Virginia. Here’s the full list.

Published

16 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Macy's closing stores in Maryland and Virginia. Here’s the full list.

WASHINGTON – Macy’s is closing more than 60 stores this year as part of a comprehensive strategy to revive its struggling business, the department store said, and several of them are in Maryland and Virginia.

In what the company refers to as its “Bold New Chapter” strategy, Macy’s said in a statement on Thursday that the closures are designed to “return the company to sustainable, profitable sales growth.”

Overall, Macy’s said it plans to close approximately 150 “underproductive stores” through 2026. Meanwhile, it will invest in 350 existing stores, with plans to add more salespeople to fitting areas and shoe departments, and adding more visual displays like mannequins.