Gov. Martin O'Malley and Baltimore health advocates announced the launch yesterday of a $150,000 advertising campaign designed to let uninsured Baltimoreans know that thousands more of them are eligible for Medicaid.
Under a law that went into effect in July, parents with annual incomes up to 116 percent of federal poverty guidelines, or about $20,500 for a family of three, are now eligible for Medicaid. Before the new guidelines were passed, only parents making less than 40 percent of poverty were eligible.
"It's not enough just to pass a law. ... We have to do the outreach," O'Malley said at a news conference outside a social services center in Pigtown.
The "Got Healthcare?" campaign features the Democratic governor and four Ravens players. Radio spots featuring O'Malley and Ravens safety Ed Reed will be heard on five area radio stations. Print ads will also run on more than two dozen billboards, 53 buses and 30 bus shelters.
The only problem? There's no money after two years:
Health Secretary John M. Colmers said the state can pay for the expansion for two years without taking money from the state's general fund. After that, Colmers said, funding will be linked to the success of November's slot machine gambling referendum.
Linking it to the slots referendum is a tricky thing. The law that allocates how slots revenue will be divided says nothing about funding Medicaid with it. The money is divided between education, horse racing corporate welfare, and a few other things. So the only way Medicaid can benefit is if the slots revenue supplants money that would have gone to these other things.
Also, the idea that this money isn't coming from the general revenue fund is absurd. I'm not sure if Colmers misspoke, but it's not like special funds (e.g., federal money) is paying for the entire Medicaid expansion. The fiscal report for the legislation that authorized this expansion very clearly noted that the money to pay for it was coming from the general fund.
What Colmers probably meant to say is that the General Assembly budgeted enough funds to pay for two years of Medicaid expansion. It also authorized further expansion in a third and fourth year but did not budget funds for this. It said that if funds were available this expansion would take place. Given the state's budget picture, I'd wager that funds won't be there. And given the way the General Assembly acts, I'd wager that the Medicaid expansion happens regardless.
