TURMOIL IN HEALTH INSURANCE: The Maryland Insurance Administration held its first hearing Wednesday on the large rate increases being sought by three insurance carriers selling health plans to individuals on the state exchange. The hearing came as another carrier decided to pull out of the market. Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. follows UnitedHealthcare, which stopped selling plans last year, Meredith Cohn reports for the Sun.
HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL OPPOSED: A majority of voters in deeply red (Republican) congressional districts oppose the health care overhaul approved by the House last month, a finding that could complicate efforts to get the legislation to President Donald J. Trump’s desk, according to a University of Maryland poll released Wednesday. John Fritze of the Sun writes that the survey, conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation, found that 63% of voters in “very red” districts opposed the American Health Care Act while voters in “red” or “leans red” districts were against it 63% and 60%, respectively.
BPW DELAYS LAND PURCHASE: The purchase of a wooded parcel on the Eastern Shore has been delayed for at least two weeks after Comptroller Peter Franchot raised questions during a Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday. The Department of Natural Resources requested approval to spend more than $3.4 million to buy a wooded 1,664-acre parcel along Route 13 in Somerset County using Program Open Space funds, reports Bryan Sears in the Daily Record.
