Law needed for health plan

Howard County (Map, News) - The debut of Howard’s health access program will be pushed back a few months, as county officials need state legislation for the program to move forward.

Although county officials contend the Healthy Howard Access Plan is not health insurance, state officials didn’t agree, prompting the need for legislation, said Howard Health Officer Dr. Peter Beilenson.

“After much discussion, we basically agreed to disagree,” he said, adding county officials decided to move ahead on legislation.

The measure would allow the Maryland Insurance Commission to grant a waiver to the county’s nonprofit to run the program, which aims to provide low-cost health care to the county’s uninsured residents.

Under the plan, participants pay a low monthly fee for six primary -are doctor visits, reduced prescription drug prices and specialty services.

The waiver would relieve the nonprofit from certain constraints on health insurance programs, such as needing to have millions of dollars in a reserve fund, Beilenson said.

Although the bill would only apply to the Howard program because it is unique, if another county wanted to create a similar program, it too would be eligible, he said.

County officials said they didn’t expect any objections to the legislation, because the health program will not cost the state any money.

Insurance Commission spokeswoman Karen Barrow said the state still was gathering information to determine whether Howard’s initiative is an insurance program and would work with lawmakers to ensure it goes forward.

The move also will give the state some oversight of the nonprofit and build in consumer protections, said Howard Chief of Staff Aaron Greenfield, who attended the weekly meeting of the county’s state delegation Wednesday.

“We want to be looked at and evaluated,” he said.

Del. Shane Pendergrass, D-District 13, raised the issue at the meeting, saying if Insurance Commissioner Ralph Tyler is unable to include the bill because it’s being filed late, she wants to introduce the legislation.

She asked the delegation to sign on.

The legislation would push the start date back from July 1 to Oct. 1, which gives the insurance company time to formally publish the related regulations, Beilenson said.

County officials plan to begin enrolling participants in July, and funding will be in place to hire staff and get the program up and running, he said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com

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