Because of greater insurance coverage, Maryland has saved approximately $500 million in hospital costs over the last 15 years.
The estimate comes from Maryland Healthcare for All!, a medical advocacy group that will deliver its results to the Maryland General Assembly later this week.
Over a 15-year period, the state lowered the number of uninsured people from 13% to 6%.
“When people go to the hospital without health care coverage under uncompensated hospital care, that’s a hidden health care tax, because it goes right into all of our health insurance premiums,” Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Healthcare for All! said. “Because of these health care expansions we have decreased uncompensated hospital care.”
Maryland, in collaboration with the federal government, has created a number of initiatives to provide coverage to people who previously did not have it.
In 2009, the state extended Medicaid and introduced a small business insurance premium subsidy program. These programs, combined with the federal Affordable Care Act, drastically reduced the number of uninsured Maryland residents.
“While we cannot assume that the major health care reforms outlined in the study are the only factors impacting hospital uncompensated care, the trends above show that they certainly represent an impact,” the study states. “The estimated savings from this report is a conservative estimate.”
DeMarco believes Maryland might save even more money, which could be passed on to consumers, if the state can reduce its uninsured rate to zero.