In December 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into law, which also repealed one of the most controversial provisions of the Affordable Care Act: the individual health insurance mandate. However, Maryland is one of nine states that is considering imposing the requirement at the state level.
The goal of the mandate at the federal level was to make sure enough people were in the insurance pool to keep costs down, and Sen. Brian J. Feldman, sponsor of the Maryland bill, said his proposal sought to do the same thing. He told the Baltimore Sun that lawmakers needed to do something to stabilize the individual insurance market because without action, the premium increases are expected to be steep.
Under Sen. Feldman’s measure, those who choose not to purchase health insurance will be required to pay an annual fine starting at $700, but they would be able to use that money as a down payment to purchase insurance the following year. Lawmakers are discussing whether to automatically put individuals’ fines toward health insurance, with people having to specifically opt out and select the option to pay the fine instead. For those who don’t opt out, they would get information at open enrollment about how to apply the money toward an insurance plan.
So far, it’s not clear whether Gov. Hogan will support the bill. He has said he’s in favor of incentives that reduce the cost of healthcare as well as solutions to stabilize the market, but has also called the individual mandate a tax. There are also a variety of other bills in the mix that seek to address the issue, including a proposal to create a high-risk pool as well as to merge the small business and individual markets.
