Rep. Sarbanes Presses Gov. Hogan to Take Stance on GOP Plan to Repeal the Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., issued the following news release:

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) sent a letter to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan today, once again asking the Governor to take a stance on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, an issue he has largely ignored despite a February 3rd inquiry from members of the Maryland Congressional delegation.

The Congressman also asked the Governor for a detailed analysis of how the recently unveiled Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act would affect Maryland - including how many Marylanders stand to lose coverage, how many Marylanders will face insurance premium increases and what impact repeal will have on jobs and Maryland's economy.

"As you may be aware, House Republicans have just released the text of a repeal plan for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which will be marked up in the Energy & Commerce Committee on Wednesday, March 8," Congressman Sarbanes wrote. "As the only member of Maryland's House delegation to sit on this committee, it is critical for me to have as much information as possible about how this plan may impact our constituents and our state.... I am requesting that you and your staff provide an analysis of how the GOP repeal effort will affect Maryland and the more than 400,000 individuals who are at risk of losing their insurance."

A full copy of the letter is below.

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March 7, 2017

The Honorable Larry Hogan

Governor of Maryland

100 State Circle

Annapolis, MD 21401 Dear Governor Hogan:

As you may be aware, House Republicans last night released the text of a repeal plan for the Affordable Care Act, which will be marked up in the Energy & Commerce Committee beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8th. As the only member of Maryland's House delegation to sit on this committee, it is critical for me to have as much information as possible about how this plan may impact our constituents and our state. To that end, I would appreciate you and your staff providing an analysis of how this draft will affect Maryland and the over 400,000 individuals who are at risk of losing their insurance. Since House Republicans released this draft less than 48 hours before the markup and this is our first opportunity to review it, having your response as soon as possible is imperative.

Please provide the following information regarding the impact of the House Republican proposal:

* How many Marylanders would lose coverage?

* How many Marylanders would be impacted by the changes in financial assistance - for both premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions - and by how much?

* How would this plan impact our state's economy, specifically as it relates to federal funding for Medicaid (in both the near and long term) and also the predicted number of job losses?

Our immediate assessment is that many Americans, including many Marylanders, stand to lose access to health care coverage under the proposed repeal. Having specific projections in hand based on your analysis will be important in clarifying that picture. In the meantime, we ask again that you forcefully and publicly oppose efforts to repeal the ACA in light of the negative impact it will have on Maryland residents. The Maryland delegation still has not received a response to our February 3rd letter containing the same request and there is now an obvious urgency to having you register your opposition to the repeal. In particular, we ask that you stand strong in support of maintaining the Medicaid expansion that was contained in the original law and oppose scaling that back under the guise of per capita caps.

I remain extremely concerned that the repeal proposal will strip coverage away from millions of Americans, eliminate critical consumer protections and make healthcare less affordable. The residents of Maryland are looking to you for support in preserving the important ACA reforms that have allowed so many of them to access affordable, accessible and high quality health care.

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