The Baltimore couple, who are in their 50s, care for their teenage daughter and often their young grandchildren, including a granddaughter with Down syndrome. Alanna Boulis said yesterday after visiting with a doctor that more tests were ordered for her husband.
Under the new law, parents with annual incomes up to 116 percent of federal poverty guidelines, or about $20,500 for a family of three, are eligible for Medicaid.
Under the old standards, the income cap for such a family was less than $7,100. To address fiscal concerns about the cost of the program, legislators decided to phase in eligibility for all adults, including those without children, over the next several years.
Whether the future expansions happen could depend on November's referendum on legalizing slot machines.
Gov. Martin O'Malley and legislative leaders are counting on roughly $600 million the state would receive from licensing slots parlors to balance the budget and to pay for health care and education initiatives.
The state covers children in families earning up to three times the poverty level. Still, about 140,000 Maryland children lack insurance, including 90,000 who are eligible for assistance but haven't been enrolled.
Another law that takes effect today aims to change that. It requires that families indicate on their income tax forms whether their children have insurance. The comptroller will use that information to send parents enrollment forms for Medicaid if they meet the income requirements.
In addition, about 100,000 adults under 25 years old are uninsured. Under a new law that took effect earlier this year, insurers that are regulated by the state are required to allow people in that age group to stay on their parents' plans.
Even more residents are expected to get health insurance through a new subsidy to encourage more small businesses to offer coverage to their employees. A business that has fewer than nine employees with the average wage below $50,000 is eligible for subsidies to cover up to 50 percent of premiums.
With prescription drug costs becoming too high for many residents, the legislature also approved a program that begins next year to help seniors bridge the "doughnut hole," an often-criticized cost-saving measure built into the Medicare prescription drug benefit passed by Congress in 2003. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the region's largest insurer, pledged to fund the $7 million annual program that will help an estimated 7,500 lower-income residents.
