Baltimore Sun
March 30, 2015
Deep in The Sun’s article about the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange’s use of federal money (“Health signup billing faulted,” March 27), is the terrific fact that the uninsured rate in Maryland has dropped from 12.9 percent to 7.3 percent thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
This means that hundreds of thousands of Marylanders have life-saving health care coverage for the first time. People like Bonita Spikes and Barbara Gruber who tell us how this new coverage has saved their lives and allowed them to get the affordable care they need. And we have all benefited because this health care expansion has substantially reduced the amount we all pay through our premiums for uncompensated hospital care.
Yes, we must make sure federal and state money is properly used and, as the article makes clear, the exchange is working to do that. But, the key point is that the Affordable Care Act has been a tremendous success in Maryland, and we will continue to work with the state to build on this success.
Vincent DeMarco, Baltimore
The writer is president of the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative.
Last modified: March 30, 2015
