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The Maryland House of Delegates passed a healthcare bill to expand coverage to 100,000 residents. The measure will soon go to the state Senate for approval.

The bill’s main goal is to expand accessibility for Medicaid to more children and adults. It would quadruple the maximum allowable income for Medicaid eligibility to $82,800 per year for families of four. And families above that income line would be able to “buy into” Medicaid. For individuals, the income cap would be tripled to $12,000 per year.

To help fund the program, the legislation calls for a $1 increase in the tobacco tax.

There are roughly 800,000 uninsured Maryland residents It’s estimated 50,000 more could go without health coverage in the next year.

“We need to take immediate action,” said House Speaker Michael E. Busch.

Even though the bill easily passed in a vote of 102 – 37, the voting was mostly along party lines. And the legislation is expected to be a hard sell for the Senate, where many senators oppose increasing tobacco tax and expanding the state’s budget.

“[The bill is] not fiscally responsible,” said Senate President Thomas Miller. “It’s like building an addition on your house when you can’t even pay your mortgage.”

Maryland is looking at a billion dollar shortfall for social programs in the coming year.

“This is the time that we should be curtailing spending rather than approving a massive new entitlement program,” added House Delegate Christopher Shank.

But insurance is unaffordable to many people who fall in the gap between Medicaid eligibility and being able to afford private health insurance — and it’s costing the state a lot of money.

Maryland currently reimburses hospitals for the care of uninsured patients, costing the state $800 million a year and raising health plan premiums roughly $1,000 a year. Residents who have coverage wind up paying for the care of the uninsured through the higher premiums.

Lawmakers in support of the bill are willing to compromise to get the legislation passed to help solve this problem.

“We’re open to everything the Senate determines if they have the political will to debate, ” said Busch.

“Why wait? Let’s act now. This is a problem that’s not going to get better. It’s only going to get worse,” said the measure’s chief author, Delegate Peter A. Hammen.

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