Health and Human Services
Report Ranks the Health of Maryland Counties

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin's Health Institute, have released the second annual report of health rankings for U.S. counties, providing a snapshot of local health conditions. The rankings are determined on a model of population health that emphasizes individual health behaviors, education and jobs, quality of health care, and the environment.  According to the 2011 County Health Rankings report for Maryland the top five healthiest counties are as…

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April 20, 2011
Health and Human Services
End of Session Update: Health Legislation

A previous post summarized the status of various health bills that MACo took a position on.    Now that the dust has settled, this post provides the final status of these bills. Ambulance Service Providers and Assignment of Benefits:  HB 83/SB 154 would require health insurers to reimburse an ambulance provider (must be owned, operated,or under the jurisdiction of a political subdivision or a volunteer fire company or rescue squad) directly for covered services.  If an ambulance…

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April 13, 2011
Education / Employee Benefits and Relations / Environment / Health and Human Services / Parks and Recreation / Planning and Zoning / Public Information and Ethics / Taxes and Revenues / Transportation and Public Works
“Last Day” Issues Wrap Up

As reported yesterday by MACo, a number of issues with county effect remained in play prior to the midnight deadline for the General Assembly session.  Below is an overview of how each of those bills ultimately played out: Maintenance of Effort – As reported yesterday, three bills were awaiting  final action. MACo supported HB 44 and SB 53 as a legislative initiative, to expand and balance the process for considering county MOE waiver requests —and…

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April 12, 2011
Bill Hearing / Employee Benefits and Relations / Health and Human Services / Intergovernmental Relations
Session Update: Health Legislation

This post summarizes the status of various health bills that MACo took a position on. Ambulance Service Providers and Assignment of Benefits:  HB 83/SB 154 would require health insurers to reimburse an ambulance provider (must be owned, operated,or under the jurisdiction of a political subdivision or a volunteer fire company or rescue squad) directly for covered services.  If an ambulance company provides a service to an individual and the company does not participate in that individual’s…

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April 5, 2011
County Budgets / Employee Benefits and Relations / Health and Human Services / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Budget Conferees Meet – Pensions and Retiree Health Areas of Disagreement

As previously reported, a House and Senate conference committee has been appointed to resolve the differences in each chamber's respective budget plan.  As reported by MarylandReporter.com, the biggest areas of disagreement are over pensions and retiree health benefits.  These differences are summarized below. RETIREMENT AGE: The Senate adopted the “Rule of 92” to receive full pension benefits. This means that the age of an employee or teacher at their retirement and their length of service…

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April 4, 2011
Bill Hearing / Health and Human Services
Medical Liability Insurance Places Administrative Burden, Costly Mandate on Counties

MACo Associate Director Andrea Mansfield testified before the Senate Finance Committee in opposition to  SB 895, legislation that would require counties to provide  medical liability insurance to a nonprofit health care provider within its jurisdiction. The approach outlined in SB 895 places an administrative burden and costly mandate on county governments at a time when revenues are waning and State cutbacks are large. For counties that already offer some limited coverage to certain service providers…

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March 25, 2011
County Budgets / Education / Employee Benefits and Relations / Health and Human Services
Montgomery County Proposed Budget Hits Libraries, Health Services, Employees

As MACo previously reported, Montgomery County Executive and MACo Treasurer Isiah Leggett unveiled his FY 2012 budget proposal last week.  The $4.35 billion budget calls for filling a $300 million shortfall through program cuts, increased taxes and fees, and increased contribution from government employees for health care and pension plans.  While the FY 2012 budget will not be voted on by the council until May, responses to the proposed cuts for library, health services, and…

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March 23, 2011
Health and Human Services / Uncategorized
Montgomery County Launches One-Stop Online Source for Population Data

Montgomery County officials have launched a one-stop online source for population-based community health information . Data, collected in 90 different fields, will assist County policy makers in identifying key priority areas and guide decisions to meet those needs.  A news release from Montgomery County stated: “The Healthy Montgomery website is the data pillar of our new community health improvement process,” said County Councilmember George Leventhal, chair of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee and…

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February 16, 2011
Health and Human Services
StateHealthFacts.org – Health, Health Care, and Health Policy Data Across the United States

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's project www.statehealthfacts.org provides free, timely, and user-friendly health data for all 50 states. The site covers over 700 health topics and is linked to both the Kaiser Family Foundation website and Kaiser Health News. Individual State profiles and state comparisons are available to review data in the categories of Demographics and the Economy, Health Costs and Budgets, Health Coverage, Health Status and much more. For data on health, health care,…

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January 20, 2011
Health and Human Services
Ex-City Health Commissioner To Head MD’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein was appointed by the Governor to serve as  the new Secretary of Maryland's Department of  Health and Mental Hygiene.   His first day on the job was January 12, 2011. Dr. Sharfstein is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and served as Principal Deputy Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration since 2009.  Prior to that, Dr. Sharfstein served as the Commissioner of Health for the City of Baltimore.  He has been named…

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January 19, 2011
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