Maryland officials are set to replace the state’s online health-insurance exchange with technology from Connecticut’s insurance marketplace, according to two people familiar with the decision, an acknowledgment that a system that has cost at least $125.5 million is broken beyond repair.The broken website alone cost Maryland taxpayers $2,500 per enrollee.
The board of the Maryland exchange plans to vote on the change Tuesday, the day after the end of the first enrollment period for the state’s residents under the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Marylanders will be able to use the exchange even as it is being overhauled. The first enrollment period opened Oct. 1 and closes Monday for insurance coverage that kicks in this year. A second open enrollment period starts Nov. 15.
Like Maryland, Connecticut was one of the first and most enthusiastic states to embrace the idea of building its own insurance exchange rather than using a federal site to implement the law’s sweeping changes in health-care coverage.
But unlike Maryland, where the system crashed within moments of launching and has limped along ever since, Connecticut’s exchange has worked as smoothly as any in the country.
Maryland is not alone in having deep-seated problems with its health marketplace. Technical issues also have plagued Oregon, Minnesota and Hawaii. But Maryland will be the first to walk away from its site, a particular embarrassment for Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), who was placed in charged of implementing health-care reform in Maryland by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).
It was not immediately clear how much more money Maryland may have to invest to get a fully functioning system, according to the two individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the changes.
The money the state has already spent has gone toward development and operation of the Web site and for agency operating costs. The existing Maryland system will stay operational for “a period of time” while the Connecticut version is being installed, one of the individuals said.
O’Malley told reporters Friday morning to expect an announcement on the future of the troubled exchange next week. The exchange board is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“We still have stuck applications. We still wrestle with it every day,” O'Malley said at a news conference. “The clock was ticking, and we have been changing the flat tires on this rolling car for the last five, going on six months now. And it has gotten better with every new fix applied to it, [but it is] still not working as it was supposed to work.”
Dori Henry, a spokeswoman for the Maryland exchange, said no decision would be finalized until the board votes on it. “The official line is the same: A decision has not been made,” Henry said. “There will not be anything further coming from the state until a decision is made.”
Henry said the exchange has cost $125.5 million to develop and operate.
As of last Saturday, 49,293 Maryland residents had enrolled in a private plan through the exchange, far short of the state’s original goal of 150,000 enrollments and shy even of its revised estimate of 75,000 to 100,000.
Some of the hardware that Maryland bought for its system, such as servers, can be salvaged, but the software and coding that are the guts of its online marketplace will be replaced, said the individuals familiar with the decision.
To knit together the new system, Maryland will turn to the consulting firm Deloitte, which wrote the code for Connecticut’s exchange. Deloitte spokesman Paul Dunker declined to comment about Maryland’s plans.
Kevin Counihan, chief executive of the Connecticut exchange, Access Health CT, said his staff has been talking for months with a handful of states interested in using Connecticut’s technology. He said any announcement about Maryland’s plans would need to come from Maryland.
“A lot of states will be watching them and watching to see what they do,” Counihan said.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
No Consequences for Wasting $125M in Maryland... As Usual with Democrat Voters, Good Intentions Trump Actual Results
from the Washington Post
Friday, March 28, 2014
Pervert Enabling Bill of 2014 Passes Maryland State Legilsature
Legislation barring discrimination against transgender people passed the General Assembly on Thursday, as the House of Delegates approved the bill after an impassioned debate. The vote sends the measure to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who said he will sign it.
The bill, approved by the House 82-57, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in housing and employment, in obtaining credit and in access to public accommodations. Five Maryland localities, including Baltimore City and Baltimore and Howard counties, have similar laws. But the measure enacted Thursday provides statewide legal protection for an estimated tens of thousands of Marylanders who say they often experience harassment, discrimination and even assaults.
When the legislation is signed into law, Maryland will join 16 other states and the District of Columbia with similar statutes.
Proponents hailed passage as the culmination of more than a decade of campaigning to extend Maryland's anti-discrimination law to cover transgender people. The campaign came after successful political battles to protect gays and lesbians and to legalize same-sex marriage.
"It is remarkable how far we've come in such a short period of time," said Sen. Richard Madaleno, chief sponsor of the Senate version of the bill and one of the Assembly's openly gay members. "I think it sends [a message] that Maryland is a welcoming place for everybody. No matter who you are, you have the opportunity to live your life, to have a job, to have a place to live, to be able to go out and enjoy a meal."
Opponents said the legislation will endanger women and children by making it easier for sexual predators to gain access to women's restrooms or locker rooms.
"I think this really sets Marylanders back as far as our right to privacy when we go to different bathrooms," said Del. Neil Parrott, a Washington County Republican. "Certainly it's very concerning for children that when an adult parent lets his child go into the bathroom, and now there could be a man or a woman in the bathroom legally."
Parrott, who was instrumental in petitioning same-sex marriage and two other laws to referendum in 2012, said he had not decided whether to try to put this legislation on the ballot.
But Carrie Evans, executive director of Equality Maryland, said she wasn't worried, noting that voters had upheld all three laws in that referendum. She predicted Parrott and other opponents of transgender rights would face "an uphill battle" getting voters to overturn the transgender rights law.
"This is about discrimination," Evans said. "It's about people getting jobs and having apartments." She said she doubted Marylanders would vote to deny anyone such rights.
Most of the lengthy, and at times heated, House debate focused on bathrooms. Delegates questioned how sexual predators could be kept out of women's restrooms and dressing rooms if the bill becomes law. Critics proffered a string of amendments aimed at that issue, arguing that men wanting to assault women or molest children would dress up in women's clothing or simply claim they "felt" like a woman to justify their presence if challenged.
"Please make sure women and little girls are in areas free of people who will do them harm," said Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Republican representing Harford and Baltimore counties.
Del. Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, floor leader for the bill, countered those and other arguments to change or defeat the bill. She pointed out that the legislation would not apply to bathrooms or locker rooms in schools. Proprietors could exclude transgender people from women's or men's facilities by offering separate bathrooms or shower stalls curtained off for them, she said.
To other critics who mentioned news reports of women and children being raped in public restrooms, Pena-Melnyk countered that there was no evidence that transgender people have a propensity to commit crimes.
Del. Luke Clippinger, an assistant state's attorney and chief sponsor of the House version of the bill, said there are already criminal laws on the books to prosecute anyone who might enter a women's restroom or dressing room for prurient reasons or to assault anyone. The Baltimore Democrat reminded lawmakers that the legislation would provide legal protection to a group of people now denied it.
Advocates for transgender rights estimate the legislation may affect 30,000 or more Marylanders. In a nationwide survey of transgender people, more than two-thirds of the 132 Marylanders questioned said they had experienced harassment or discrimination on the job, while 81 percent of those who'd expressed their gender identity in school said they'd been hassled.
A few delegates made clear they were philosophically opposed to the legislation or unwilling to accept changing gender identity as normal.
"We can pass all the bills we want, but we can't change nature," said Del. Emmett Burns, a Baltimore County Democrat who is a minister. He added, "My constituents think we have lost our minds."
Del. Michael McDermott, a Republican representing the lower Eastern Shore, said mores are different in rural areas. He said those supporting the bill were "voting for confused legislation on behalf of some very confused people."
But Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat, recalled that similar arguments had been raised against legislation according protection against discrimination for homosexuals, which ultimately passed in 2001.
"This is an important group of people who, frankly, we left out" of the earlier law, said McIntosh, who is gay. "They're beat up, ridiculed, suffering, and they need to hold their heads up high, just like I do today."
Others invoked the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and '70s. Del. Rudolph Cane, an Eastern Shore Democrat and an African-American, recalled how in his youth, his family was excluded from dining in many restaurants when visiting Annapolis. Transgender people "aren't the ones causing problems," he said. "We need to support equal accommodations so people can enjoy a decent life."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)