Interim Report on Health Care Reform Implementation in Maryland Released

The Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council (HCRCC) released its Interim Report at a press conference in Baltimore on July 26, 2010. The report is the result of the HCRCC’s efforts since March 2010, when it was appointed by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley to make recommendations regarding Maryland’s implementation of the recently enacted federal health reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The report includes: an overview of the federal law and its general implications for reform in Maryland; the role and mission of the HCRCC; the opportunities and challenges presented by reform implementation and the principles by which it must be guided; the state’s unique health care landscape and regulatory environment against which implementation decisions must be made; the projected fiscal impact of reform over the next decade; the workgroup process through which the HCRCC will formulate its recommendations on the decisions most critical to Maryland’s success; and a timeline for planning and key activities. The HCRCC is co-chaired by the Honorable Anthony G. Brown, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, and John M. Colmers, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The HCRCC is staffed by Charles J. Milligan, The Hilltop Institute’s executive director, and Alice Burton, principal at Riverside Consulting, LLC. To support the HCRCC’s work, Hilltop researchers conducted an in-depth analysis of the provisions of PPACA and developed a financial model to project Maryland’s costs and savings associated with implementing health care reform. The model, based on current assumptions, predicts that health care reform could save Maryland an estimated $829 million in health care costs in the next decade. To learn more about the HCRCC and view the report, visit www.healthreform.maryland.gov/interimreport.html.

July 27, 2010