Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Friday announced a new program to help offset an expected rise in premiums for people enrolled in Maryland Health Connection as a result of Republican cuts to health care subsidies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moore announced the new program at a press conference outside the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services Silver Spring Center. Earlier in the day, he toured the Georgia Avenue facility without reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the press conference, Moore said more than 190,000 Marylanders rely on federal enhanced premium tax credits to afford health care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those people could see their premiums increase by an average of $825 per year in 2026 if Congress does not extend the tax credits, Moore said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Maryland Premium Assistance Program, Moore said, \u201cwill help to protect Marylanders from these premium increases should the federal government fail to act.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through the program, officials hope people covered through the state\u2019s health insurance marketplace will see projected increases in their premiums reduced by two thirds, amounting to about $500 in cost savings. But officials still expect premiums to increase overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is frankly no state in this country that can fill the enormous gap that\u2019s created when the federal government decides to look at us in our face and say \u2018you\u2019re on your own,\u2019 \u201d Moore said. \u201cBut in Maryland, we are gonna do everything in our power \u2026 to make sure we are bringing health care costs down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to letting tax credits expire, Republicans in Congress have introduced other cuts aimed at decreasing federal spending on health care. They have specifically taken aim at health care dollars going to the immigrant population.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democrats argue that lowering health care spending at the federal level will shift costs onto states and people who may not be able to absorb them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cuts \u2014 which were part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a> passed earlier this year \u2013\u00a0prompted Democrats in Congress to withhold support for a resolution to keep funding the federal government through Nov. 21, leading to a shutdown that began Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The shutdown is expected to last at least through the weekend, with the Senate scheduled to reconvene on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a result of the cuts, some groups such as people with refugee or asylee status automatically became ineligible for Medicaid on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Other groups, such as those covered through the Affordable Care Act\u2019s Medicaid expansion, will have to meet new work requirements and prove their eligibility more frequently than before.\u00a0<\/p>\n More than 200,000 Montgomery County residents were enrolled in Medicaid as of March, according to the Maryland Medicaid Administration<\/a>. Of those, more than 43,000 were covered under the Affordable Care Act expansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Worth fighting for\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Across the state, 175,000 people may lose health care coverage as a result of the cuts, Maryland Secretary of Health \u200bMeena Seshamani said during Friday\u2019s press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNot only will these Medicaid cuts make it harder for people to access health care, but these c\u200b\u200buts will reduce payments for health care organizations across the state, which will stall economic growth for one of our largest sectors,\u201d Seshamani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn top of that,\u201d she continued, \u201ctens of millions of dollars will be needed to implement and administer all of the new requirements \u2013 particularly those pertaining to eligibility changes such as work requirements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Dist. 6), who represents the upper portion of the county in Congress, said during Friday\u2019s press conference that the state\u2019s federal delegation \u201cworked very hard\u201d to avert the shutdown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut some things are so important they are worth fighting for,\u201d McClain Delaney said. \u201cLike standing up for the health and well-being of Marylanders, protecting their health care, and not signing off on a budget which will make working families\u2019 lives harder and less affordable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n