MD County To Offer Health Care To All

Source: WBAL - Baltimore

MD County To Offer Health Care To All
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
WBAL Radio reported by Leonard Roberts and The Associated Press

Howard County is expected to offer health care to all uninsured residents, officials plan to announce next month.

Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Howard's health officer and the plan's primary architect, said the plan will be designed so it can be converted for use in counties elsewhere in the state and nation.

"The opportunity to deliver affordable access to those in our community in the wealthiest county in the wealthiest state in the wealthiest country is something we ought to be able to do, and we're pretty close," County Executive Ken Ulman told The (Baltimore) Sun this week.

Under the proposal, uninsured residents of any age would pay a small fee for access to primary health care, using a participating doctor or clinic instead of hospital emergency rooms. Only Howard County residents will be eligible, Ulman said.

Read more: http://wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=63058

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This is really pretty significant. Our county had a Republican County Exec until the 06 cycle. We now have a Democrat and this is what we get. This may or may not be a perfect plan, but it sure beats what we have now .......

Bravo for taking the first step.

:kick:

I hope the rest of MD follows suit! :bounce:

Very cool. I've always liked Beilenson. Glad to see him leading this effort.

Too bad it's not a country wide program. I expect more and more counties, and states will start stepping up. Well, at least elsewhere than California. We'll have to get a governor here who isn't tied to the repubs by his umbilical cord.

edited for spelling. This late at night my fingers work faster than my brain. What I call a brain fart.

May be time to move. I'm not sure why Anne Arundel (the capital county) wouldn't be the first to adopt this. Sounds like a good idea.

than this.

As stated, they have yet to release details. The teevee news story about it sounded promising, but I have a feeling it will be quite limited.

As you say, we have GOT to do better.

If they get this up and running, uninsured people with serious illnesses will have a strong incentive to move to Howard County. The county might try to impose a residency requirement (one year minimum or some such). I'm not sure that's constitutionally permissible, but even if it is, people who (for example) need expensive drug regimens would still benefit by moving there, scraping by for a year through whatever method they're using now, and then going on the public system.

The result would be "cherry-picking" but in reverse. Howard County would be shouldering a disproportionate burden of caring for America's uninsured. This would create big fiscal problems for the county, and it would give a false picture of the economics of single-payer health care.

This isn't an esoteric problem. The county must have thought of it. Unfortunately, the linked article doesn't mention the issue. It does quote a clinic official saying, "The initial idea is to take care of anybody working and uninsured." Other passages in the article don't limit the program to those working, though. It's said to include all county residents. Even if it's limited to those employed full-time, uninsured people from elsewhere who need major surgery would gain financially by quitting their middle-class jobs and taking minimum-wage jobs in Howard County.

I give them full credit for knowing that there's a problem and for being willing to tackle it. I'm just not sure how well this approach will work.

You would rather there be lemons?

The problem with naysayers is frequently they do so without any facts on their side. Just "this is what might happen" and as a result you end up with the health system we have now - which emphasizes what is profitable over health.

Frankly, the best solution overall (and one that has been needed in this country) is nationalized health care.

My concern is that a false picture of the economics of single-payer health care might undermine the drive for nationalized health care (which, I agree with you, is the best solution).

I'm not naysaying without facts. I wrote that I was "just not sure", so I was maybesaying. :) I added that I wished the article had given more information about the county's analysis of this aspect of the plan, because I'm sure I'm not the only one who would see this as a potential problem -- and, definitely, having more facts would be nice.

Yes, there was something of a naysaying tone to my post. I tried to give some balance to a discussion in which most of the other replies were uncritically positive.

The County level is even more impressive, way to go Baltimore.

My manicurist lives in HoCo, and she doesn't have insurance. I'll have to let her know.