Maryland Family Advocates Medicaid Expansion In Maryland

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 24 Oct 2007 - 5:00 PST

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A Maryland family who has advocated for legislation that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP "is now stepping back into the divisive debate" by advocating for state legislation that would expand health coverage for adults, the Washington Post reports (Rein, Washington Post, 10/23).

Graeme Frost, a 12-year-old SCHIP beneficiary, on Sept. 29 delivered Democrats' response to President Bush's weekly radio address. Frost and his younger sister, Gemma, relied on SCHIP after a serious car accident in 2004. Republican bloggers have discussed the Frosts' income and assets and questioned whether the family could afford private coverage. The Frosts have refuted all the claims, noting that they have an annual income between $45,000 and $50,000 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/10).

Bonnie Frost, Graeme and Gemma's mother, on Monday spoke at a Baltimore church, urging state lawmakers to pass legislation that would subsidize small businesses and expand Medicaid coverage for adults. Frost works for a biomedical publishing company with seven employees and no health insurance plan. State lawmakers next week will discuss the proposal.

Vincent DeMarco -- president of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative, which is sponsoring a new radio advertisement campaign to support the legislation -- said, "Bonnie's a symbol of the true depth of the health care crisis in Maryland," adding, "Luckily, [S]CHIP is there for their kids, but there's nothing for them" (Washington Post, 10/23).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.