He says a hearing for the bill is scheduled for February 18th
Annapolis, MD (KB) In 2008, Maryland implemented the Reinsurance Program, which helped reduce the cost of health care at the individual level by 34% since 2018.
That’s according to Frederick County Delegate Ken Kerr who is introducing an affordable health care bill at the 2021 General Assembly in Annapolis.
He said 6% of Marylanders are still uninsured.
“Mostly those are young Marylanders between the ages of 19 and 34, who are making more than 400% of the federal poverty level, so they don’t qualify for any federal subsidies to help them make their health insurance affordable,” he explained.
Kerr said the bill will allow surplus funds from the Reinsurance Program to be redistributed to reduce the cost of health insurance for young adults.
He said this will be beneficial in three ways.
“It will insure more Marylanders, it will bring young healthy adults into the risk pool, and it will provide for some long-term stability in the health care market,” he said.
The Delegate said this bill has already gained a lot of support and is expected to receive more at the hearing.
“We also are anticipating a lot of other written and oral support during the hearing, which will be on the 18th,” he said.
Kerr is also sponsoring a property tax credit bill for business entities that have been negatively impacted by the State of Emergency imposed by the Governor. He said it will give the City of Baltimore and 23 counties the authority to offer tax relief to these businesses.