In 2011, the State of Maryland created a law that took away prescription coverage for retired Maryland State employees. The law was to go into effect at the end of 2018 at which time retirees would be moved to Medicare Part D, which has very weak coverage for medications that are not generic. State retirees were not informed of this change until spring of last year. The change in coverage is clearly unfair, state employees worked for years with the understanding that their medical and prescription coverage would continue once they retired. Because of a pending lawsuit in federal court the change is being delayed until the end of 2019.
Many retirees are facing extremely high costs to continue medications they have been taking. For my husband, it will be an additional $5000 a year for Humira, a biologic with no generic equivalent. I know a lot of people will be hurt a lot worse than we are. A friend of mine told me that her medications will cost her an additional $15,000 a year which she can’t afford.
This will not affect teachers in the public school systems in Maryland. They have a much stronger union than Maryland State Employees. But if the law stands, it does set a dangerous precedent so they might also be concerned.
Yesterday, Del. Eric Bromwell (D) introduced legislation to repeal the legislation which took away our prescription coverage. If you live in Maryland, please contact your legislator and Governor Hogan to ask for passage of this bill.
You can find your legislators here by putting in your address and zipcode. Click the link that says "Who represents me?" on the right side of the page: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmmain.aspx?pid=legisrpage&tab=subject6 Write something like this to each of them. Or you can write more about how this will affect you or someone you know. I am writing to request your support of MD HB98 -- legislation to overturn the bad law that takes away prescription drug benefits from State of Maryland Retirees and their dependents. These hard working employees deserve to retain the benefits they worked for and expected to continue throughout their lives. Thank you. Your name and address