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Bill would create commission to study pooling public-employee health insurance purchasing
Summary
Senate Bill 547 would create a commission to study whether Maryland state, counties, municipalities and school boards should pool public-employee health insurance purchasing to find efficiencies and save taxpayer money; sponsors cited prior enabling legislation and examples from other states.
Senate Bill 547 would establish a commission to study whether state and local government entities should pool their public-employee health insurance purchasing to achieve economies of scale and reduce costs.
The sponsor's legislative director presented the bill on behalf of Sen. James and described the measure as a straightforward, low-cost study to evaluate whether pooling health insurance purchases across the state, counties, municipal corporations and county boards of education could yield savings. Former Delegate Dan Morhaime, who worked on an earlier enabling law, said a prior 2018 task force unanimously saw potential benefits and that more than a dozen states have pursued pooling or cooperative purchases; he and supporters said the potential savings could be significant because health insurance is a major state and local expense.
Members asked whether other states' experiences are available for comparison and whether the 2018 enabling language and subsequent 2019 report addressed why counties had not joined earlier efforts. Supporters said the commission would update prior work, survey local jurisdictions on barriers to joining a pool, and provide a fresh analysis rather than starting with a predetermined outcome.
No vote was recorded during the hearing; witnesses said the commission would re-engage stakeholders and examine models used by other states.
