Now you know: Marylanders are paying more for healthcare year after year

When the Affordable Care Act was sold to the American people, the promises were enormous. Health care would become more affordable. Americans were told that if they liked their doctor and health plan, they could keep them. Sixteen years later, Maryland families are paying more and more for health insurance, and health care costs are becoming unaffordable.

For 2027, Maryland has approved another major increase in individual health insurance premiums. Unsubsidized individual Affordable Care Act premiums will rise by an average of 14.6%, following an average increase of 13.4% in 2026.

That is not affordable health care.

The ACA expanded insurance coverage, but having an insurance card is not the same as having affordable health care. Families still have to pay premiums, deductibles, copays, prescription costs and other medical bills.

Gov. Wes Moore's administration points to Washington for the latest increases, citing the expiration of enhanced federal Obamacare subsidies and other federal changes. But a government subsidy does not make health care cheaper. It simply changes who pays the bill.

During the pandemic era, Washington temporarily expanded ACA subsidies beyond the traditional income limit. With those enhanced subsidies expiring, the previous 400% ceiling based on the federal poverty guideline has returned.

For 2026, 400% of the federal poverty guideline is approximately $63,840 for an individual and $132,000 for a family of four. We can debate where taxpayer assistance should begin and end, but taxpayers deserve honesty about what these programs are. They are subsidies that shift part of the insurance bill to taxpayers. They do not reduce the underlying cost of health care.

Maryland also has contributed to rising insurance costs through its own decisions.

The ACA requires individual and small-group insurance plans to cover 10 broad categories of essential health benefits. Maryland has gone considerably further. According to the General Assembly's legislative analysts, state law requires more than 50 specific mandated benefits for health plans subject to those requirements. Many of those benefits have worthy purposes. But they are not free.

Every time Annapolis requires insurers to cover another service, treatment, procedure or provider, it adds cost. Eventually, employers, taxpayers or the people buying insurance have to pay those costs. Yet Annapolis keeps adding requirements while Maryland families watch their premiums climb.

Another part of Maryland's health care system receives far too little attention: accountability for the billions of taxpayer dollars we already spend. A May 2026 legislative audit of Maryland's Medicaid program contained 10 findings. Six were repeated from the previous audit.

Auditors found inadequate controls over questionable payments involving Medicaid recipients who were incarcerated or deceased. They identified $9.2 million in questionable payments involving those two categories, including 18,086 claims totaling approximately $2.8 million with service dates after recipients' reported dates of death.

Auditors also found that Maryland Medicaid paid about $145 million in claims during 2024 for 4,873 recipients aged 65 or older who were not enrolled in Medicare despite potentially being eligible. Because Medicare is federally funded while Maryland taxpayers share Medicaid costs, failing to coordinate the programs can leave Maryland taxpayers paying bills that should have been paid elsewhere. Gov. Wes Moore should aggressively protect every taxpayer-funded Medicaid dollar.

That does not mean denying health care to people who legitimately need assistance. It means protecting the program for them.

Beginning in 2027, new federal requirements will require recipients to have their eligibility checked every six months. Federal law also will require many able-bodied, working-age adults receiving Medicaid to work, attend school, participate in job training or perform community service for at least 80 hours a month to keep the Medicaid rolls accurate.

Regular eligibility verification helps ensure taxpayer-funded health care goes to people who actually qualify. Waste, improper payments and fraud do not strengthen Medicaid.

Maryland needs to change direction. Before passing another insurance mandate, lawmakers should carefully examine its effect on premiums. Maryland should aggressively pursue improper Medicaid payments and regularly verify eligibility. The state should improve coordination with Medicare, confront rising hospital and prescription drug costs and demand measurable improvements in access to care.

Gov. Moore cannot control every decision coming out of Washington, but he can improve the Maryland health insurance market. Washington cannot become the excuse for everything while audit after audit uncovers massive problems in Maryland under Moore's control.

Obamacare was supposed to make health care affordable. Instead, Maryland families face another year of double-digit premium increases while taxpayers keep pouring billions into the system. Marylanders do not need more blame-shifting, another mandate, another subsidy or another excuse. They need health care they can actually afford.

Distributed by Newsbank, inc.