Maryland?s Senate has signed off on a plan to expand health insurance to as many as 120,000 unprotected residents over the next five years, including providing subsidies to small businesses that aren?t currently offering it.
The plan is one of a handful of proposals for new spending under consideration during a special session of the General Assembly called to reduce the state?s $1.5 billion deficit.
The measure cleared the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday evening largely intact from the package submitted by Gov. Martin O?Malley. The bill must receive final Senate approval before moving to the House.
The plan would cost $53 million in fiscal 2009 and $280 million by 2013. Senate President Thomas Mike Miller has said the full Senate will not pass the measure unless slot machines revenues are approved. Doubling the cigarette tax to $2 a pack pays for the initial part of the plan.
Under current law, single adults must earn less than $4,000 each year to qualify for Medicaid. The new bill extends the benchmark to households with annual incomes up to 116 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or about $11,800 for a single adult.
“It?s a great victory for working families in Maryland,” said Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative. “It?s outrageous that the wealthiest state has the worst Medicaid level in the country.”
Maryland Health Secretary John Colmers said a proposed subsidy for businesses with low wages will have the most “profound” effect on the state?s estimated 700,000 to 800,000 uninsured.
Members of the Finance Committee on Wednesday scaled back O?Malley?s $30 million subsidy proposal to $20 million, eliminating funds for businesses already offering health insurance.
Companies with fewer than 10 employees that have not offered health insurance for at least 12 months would be eligible for a $1,000-per-employee subsidy if they offer wellness programs such as weight-loss counseling or smoking cessation.
Two committee Republicans opposed the plan. Sen. E.J. Pipkin, Upper Shore, said state funds supporting the program over the next five years could help close Maryland?s projected structural deficit.
“I think it?s burdensome,” Pipkin said. “I think it?s going to help a tiny number of small businesses, and I think the secretary could put this money better spent.”
