Letter to the Editor: Delegate Ready Disappointed with Affordable Care Act Rollout

I’m sure many Carroll County residents have been following the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov and Obamacare in the news.  Maryland has set up its own individual health care exchange to comply with the Affordable Care Act.  Instead of using the Federal website, Gov. Martin O'Malley wanted to be the first state to create its own exchange.  Lt. Governor Anthony Brown was put in charge of implementing the exchange. It’s not going well. 

Maryland's website went live October 1st as insurance cancellation notices went out..  Much like HealthCare.gov, the results have been dismal. As of this week, less than 4,000 Marylanders had actually obtained private insurance through the exchange – the state needs 150,000 signed up and paid by March 31st for the exchange to be solvent.

Of course, thousands of Marylanders have been trying to access the exchange website to find out what their options are, and are finding either that the site does not work properly or even worse, the plans being offered are more expensive than what they had had to pay before.  

So far Maryland has spent $67 million on this website with no real progress to show for it.  Worse yet, there has been precious little accountability from the people in charge of Maryland's exchange. Lt. Gov. Brown was front-and-center at all photo ops and bill hearings when the exchange was being established, but has not appeared at any hearings since these problems began. He’s been largely unwilling to answer questions.

Despite the fact that I totally disagree with and oppose Obamacare, I don’t take any pleasure in the fact that the site has been failing.  However, this kind of incompetence is a direct result of a one-party monopoly that balks at transparency and shrugs at wasting your money.  Not only do politicians like Anthony Brown refuse to take responsibility for their role in this mess, they actually seemed surprised that anyone could be mad at them.  

The 2014 General Assembly session begins January 8th. The problems with Maryland's health care exchange are going to be a main topic of debate.  As a state legislator, I do not have the ability to force Maryland to “opt out” of Obamacare.  However, my goal will be to get to the bottom of what has really happened and ensure that those who need insurance can get access to affordable policies in a timely fashion.  

As December 25th approaches, I also want to wish readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Please feel free to get in touch with me at 410-841 3070 or Justin.Ready@house.state.md.us if I can ever be of assistance to you.

 -- Justin Ready

The writer is a State Delegate representing Carroll County