Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
many Marco the present the Maryland citizens Health Initiative the web
is website is health care for all dot com
is online is novel I miss you physically sitting right here with me and I thank
you for the opportunity Thomas the talking every year
thanks for joining us when it's great to see you again anywhere where the
families USA conference here in washington DC
and so what's going on a Maryland Maryland
citizens Health Initiative has been rolled out yes well we've been around
since 1999 working to achieve quality affordable health care for all
Marylanders
and even before the Affordable Care Act under leadership
gar governor martin O'Malley to government in brown we've expanded
health care to over 400,000
people and that has really help many Marylanders
live you did this before Obamacare the Affordable Care Act and how
we did it partly with what I like to call public health revenue measures
in these are measures that raise money tobacco alcohol taxes in particular
that not only raise money help these programs happened
but also have independent public health benefits reducing teen smoking reducing
underage drinking
Maryland has had over the last two years at thirty percent drop in smoky
overall forty percent amongst teens how does that compare the rest of the
country album
double the RR is almost the rest countries nineteen percent cuz
because the you know the the Fox News argument against that is
well users raises tobacco taxes you're just gonna create a black market on the
border with the other states
that happens very very little mostly people quit or don't start
right and that saves lots of lives and save money because
smoking is why the biggest causes and health care costs sure
NRC got the biggest if not the biggest america's been doing really well
plus it raises money which has been used to expand health care for
mmm hundreds of thousands of people and I need to tell you one story because
what we did after that
health care expansion happen his we did events around
the state highly people benefit which urs listeners can find at
health care for all da comp go to places have newly insured you can see some the
story
one on their forget it is woman told us how she'd
been uninsured for a long time her husband work full-time in
but they couldn't afford it desperate she took her kids into local health
department said
can you help my kids at lease in AZ yes we can but in addition and as new law
governor O'Malley decide we can help you to
and they gave her a Medicaid card she the nap before
few weeks there she was feeling ill had she noted that card time she would try
to sleep it off as many uninsured people do
instead she went to see a doctor the doctor look at
look better examine their and Sergio discarded said
thank goodness UK knew you were developing something would have killed
you
well you know this card you would have been dead she came to our press
conference and said these words thank you for saving my life and that's the
message
tall Ameren does not make that happen but what they are what your listeners
understand is
that was not only life saving for her and wonderful for family
but good for the restaurant imagine if she had not had that card she probably
would have died right away should have got very ill gotten the hospital which
would have to take inner
mmm under our laws which we want run up a huge bill and then died
could her husband and then picked up that tab no white tuna
we would wipe them out and then we would have had to pick up the rest
because there is what we call a hidden health care tax
very help mmm hundreds of dollars a margarines premiums every year go to
paper the health care unit which ironically was pushed through during the
reagan administration by republican it's not me know
it we needed that was that compassionate conservative thing you know if you show
up at a
he are you going to take a gotta take you you know what that means is we all
pay the bill
right so let's pay the bill in a smart way right let's do it up front
key people like this your the young woman helped the yeah
and and Maryland we did with tobacco now call taxes which was up do that now the
Affordable Care Act of course took effect
and that's allowed Maryland to go a lot further n
like everywhere else in the country we benefited from allowing young people
under age 26
to stand up and South health plan which is and I've got a kid 23 ticket 21 so I
love this
in addition seniors now get better brakes and their prescription drugs
insurance companies can charge too much can't put too much of your money in turn
on health care-related
items profit sir yes gold faucets and the
in the washer also negative sweet nobody can deny somebody health care because a
pre-existing condition at a really big deal
all these benefits have happened and says January what of course the full
Affordable Care Act taken effect and almost two million people across the
country have benefited
in maryland another 100 and eighty thousand plus people have benefited now
they've been problems
we all know the reprise but nationally announce a to Maryland with the website
but
it's getting better and you know these programs take a while to really work
well
the you membered george bush's a prescription drug
build the to allow medicare cover prescription drugs
it was a disaster for a couple years and finally gotta go on so now it's working
we need to do the same thing here get it working and we are working and doing a
right in maryland over a hundred sixty thousand people now have medicaid in
every before
over 20,000 people have a other health plans for private insurers
it's really is really good progress that's incredible that's incredible
on Maryland has taken the Medicaid expansion yes n
it's really disgraceful for states not to do that I just can't believe
that a governor would be so callous and
bad it's bad for their whole economy and did did now i'd a mother's money
a border states with Maryland Virginia yet you sure a large border with
Virginia do other new governor what to do it yeah bob McDonnell turn down that
medicare he did but medicaid but the new governor
governor mccollum is our committed to doing it yeah yeah so it's gonna be
really interesting have you hand it seems to me that
you know I I'm I mention her legal conservator arguments raising tobacco
taxes even create this
interstates black market but it seems
you know following that same logic that there might be some small amount of
truth to that
that there would be a small on a trip to the idea that if one state is
offering Medicare the other state is in people don't talk
yeah that there's that there's going to be people who are going to start getting
outraged
with you know i trace Scottish recarey and and they're gonna say
you know waited what in this is not right why is the summit in this next
state over
now this is the spy comfortable for the red states along the Gulf Coast they're
all
butt up against each other they don't have state next to them that as expand
except to the governor in kentucky is it well Kentucky
he's great he's makin squirted jackie is does Gracie collectio medical grade at
every but medicaid and the website they're doing great
yeah and and it's got the states around I'm just freaked out i mean you know
Ohio Indiana the people they're doing so much better and you can see
it again governor cases have a higher he got the turkey there that's right which
is good although it into a website
well but it's not a Republican or democratic think it's each just
ridiculous for
state not to take a Medicaid expansion yeah yeah it is and
and he and really it's it's a republican governor same to the taxpayers their
state
you've made federal taxes and we're not going to allow that federal money to
come back to our snakes know said now
and makes them into venita Marco the present
meryl Maryland citizens Health Initiative their website health care for
all doc
thank you can make your Evans great Edwards