Ironically, Marylanders can protect the confidentiality of their driving records, but not that of their medical records, in the state's computerized data banks. More mandates on the health insurance market than are imposed by any other state . As a result, many Marylanders are unable to purchase a benefits package tailored to their own specific needs but are forced to pay for access to treatments and procedures that legislators target for politically favored body parts. According to a recent U.S. General Accounting Office report, Maryland's mandates add 22 percent to the cost of a typical health benefits package. An agency that sets all rates hospitals may charge for medical services , regardless of supply and demand.
Prices bear little or no relation to market forces.
Yet its health care initiatives have done little to expand the availability of health insurance. The number of uninsured persons has climbed from approximately 570,000 in 1992 to over 700,000 today. And contrary to the claims of supporters of the health care regulatory system, recent figures indicate the system is not controlling hospital costs effectively. In 1996, the cost of a hospital stay increased by 4.5 percent, compared with a national average of 2.3 percent. Legislators across the United States can learn what not to do by examining Maryland's efforts to micromanage health care through a burgeoning bureaucracy.