Current Status of Health Care Insurance Coverage in Maryland
MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE
FY2002 STATE PLANNING GRANT APPLICATION
SUBMITTED TO
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
APRIL 4, 2002
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Current Status of Health Care Insurance Coverage in Maryland
Marylands uninsured rate of 12% (1999 and 2000 Current Population Survey [CPS]) for the non-elderly is well below the comparable national figure of 16%. The average uninsured rate for all Maryland residents in 1999-2000 was 10.4%. Maryland ranks in the top 15% of all states in terms of its low rate of uninsurance. The states lower rate of uninsured is principally due to higher levels of workplace-provided coverage.
In Maryland, as compared to the U.S. as a whole, both a higher percentage of private firms offer health insurance to their employees, and a larger share of workers are employed in the public sector, making well-subsidized health care coverage available to nearly all Maryland employees. As a result, considerably more of Marylands residents are covered primarily by employer-based insurance than in the U.S. as a whole. Moreover, because Marylands poverty rate is among the nations lowest, the portion of residents covered by Medicaid is below the nationwide rate.
Marylands Earlier Efforts to Expand Access to Health Coverage
Maryland has employed a number of different strategies in both the private and public sectors to ensure that residents have access to health insurance coverage. In general, three types of strategies have been utilized:
Publicly funded, comprehensive health insurance coverage programs: Medicaid; HealthChoice, the states Medicaid managed care 1115 waiver program; Marylands S-CHIP programs, Maryland Childrens Health Program (MCHP) and MCHP Premium, the latter of which features an option to provide coverage through employer-sponsored insurance; the State Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (SOBRA) and S-CHIP Medicaid coverage expansions for pregnant women;
State-sponsored initiatives to increase private sector health insurance coverage: The 1993 small group market reform effort; the Substantial, Available and Affordable Coverage (SAAC) program for the medically uninsurable, which is aimed at the individual insurance market; and the states all-payer hospital rate-setting program; and
Publicly funded supplemental health care and medical services programs, which strive to fill gaps in existing