State lawmakers discuss plan to keep health care individual mandate

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland state lawmakers and health care advocates announced a plan on Jan. 9 to continue the health care individual mandate in the state.

The individual mandate was a provision in the Affordable Care Act that required individuals to enroll in health insurance or pay a penalty, unless they qualified for an exemption.

The tax bill Congress passed in December eliminated the individual mandate starting in 2019’s tax season. Now this state proposal could bring it back for Marylanders in 2020.

“The gutting of the individual mandate is a serious problem for keeping the Affordable Care Act alive and working,” said Vinny DeMarco, president of the Maryland Health Care for All Coalition.

Read more: http://www.thesentinel.com/pgs/news/state/item/4389-state-lawmakers-discuss-plan-to-keep-health-care-individual-mandate