As Maryland leaders celebrate lower health insurance rates, they don’t mention rising deductibles
The deal, made by Republican Gov.
"We have made real progress toward solving our state's health care challenges," Hogan said at a recent press conference.
But what state officials didn't highlight in their announcements is that although premiums are going down, deductibles are going up.
According to a new report for the
Montgomery County State Del.
"I was deeply disappointed that in the fanfare to publicize decreased rates for this year, the
He added that the reinsurance program had a "positive effect, but it is not an end-all, be-all."
Deductibles have been rising for years in health care plans across the country, but the
Reznik is an advocate of converting the state to a single-payer health care program -- nicknamed "Medicare-for-all" -- a position favored by Democratic gubernatorial nominee
Both Reznik and Jealous say the rising deductibles help underscore their argument that a major overhaul of the state's health care system is needed to help Marylanders pay for their bills.
"This report is yet another indication that temporary half-solutions won't fix our broken healthcare system," Jealous said in a statement. "
Legislative analysts say a single-payer health care program could grow the state's budget by
"Thanks to the bold, bipartisan action taken by the governor and legislative leaders, premiums are lower across the board for the first time in decades, and virtually everyone purchasing insurance on the individual market is able to pay less than they did last year, and drastically less than they would have if this program were not in place," Chasse said. "
In a recent interview, Hogan said he was focused on bipartisan solutions to help bring down health care costs -- such as the reinsurance program -- but that major change would need to come at the federal level. The governor has argued a single-payer health care system implemented at the state level would be unaffordable and could disrupt
"This problem is something we've been focused on for four years, but it's primarily something that must be dealt with at the federal level," Hogan said of health care costs. "
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