ANNAPOLIS, MD

The reactions and predictions reflected the talking points Marylanders have heard over the 14 months health care reform measures have been debated in Congress

John Colmers, the secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, said it will expand the number of people who have health insurance by expanding Medicaid and by making it easier for others to buy insurance from private companies.

"Rough estimates at this point are that it will cover close to 95 percent of the population and it will mean for us covering about 600,000 Marylanders through both the public and the private sector, beginning in 2014."

"In addition," he said, "it will save the state money because for the first 10 years the federal government picks up 100 percent of Medicare costs."

Vincent DeMarco, of the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, called it a tremendous victory for Maryland and the country.

"They have really done something tremendous that will make quality health care affordable for all Americans and expand health care to 30 million plus people who are now uninsured."

But Senator Andy Harris, a Baltimore County Republican, warned that the newly insured may run out of doctors.

"First of all its going to drive practitioners out of practice, its going to stop new practitioners entering the field, the health practitioner field, because in the end the way the government, what the government is going to do is dial back reimbursement and its going to begin rationing care. And when that happens I think patients will suffer."

"Even worse," he said, "it forces Americans to buy a product."


"This is unprecedented in American history that merely being an American citizen is going to be a requirement to buy a product. And that approaches the government telling you exactly what's good for you, what's bad for you, what you have to do, what you don't have to do. It may not be Communism," said the staunchly conservative physician, "but it is a step toward socialized medicine."

Yet Rex Crowdy, executive director of the Maryland Health Care Commission, argued that requiring people to buy insurance will help drive down premiums.

"Everybodys gotta be in the pool so that the healthy people and the sick people, thats the way insurance works, is if everybody's in the pool together."

In addition, said Governor Martin OMalley, the increase in the number of people who are insured will drive down hospital rates. In Maryland, no one gets turned away from a hospital, and the cost of caring for those who can't pay gets rolled into the bills of those who can.

"And if we had continued down the road where fewer and fewer of us had health insurance, then the cost of it would go higher and higher to cover the additional numbers of people that have to wait till they're so sick that they have to get that hospital care."

Mike Busch, speaker of the House of Delegates, ranked the health care bill with Social Security, Medicare, the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Rights amendment with some of greatest things accomplished in his lifetime.

"I think if you're a father of young daughters today, like I am, and you saw Title IX come along, all those things wouldn't have taken place without the federal government stepping up to the plate and say look we want to create access and fairness to all Americans and I think this is what this is about."

He conceded that voting for the bill may be disastrous at the polls in November, but he said its the gamble you take when you do something you believe is important for the country.