For more than 250,000 Maryland seniors, Medicare Advantage isn’t just another health insurance option — it’s a lifeline. These plans provide affordable, comprehensive and flexible coverage that goes far beyond what traditional Medicare offers. They include benefits that meet real, everyday needs — dental, vision and hearing care; transportation to medical appointments; grocery allowances; even modest cash assistance to help with basic expenses.
These supplemental benefits aren’t luxuries — they’re essential to living healthy, independent and dignified lives. Vision care helps prevent falls. Dental care can stop infections that lead to emergency room visits. Transportation ensures seniors make it to the doctor. Healthy food stipends help prevent chronic disease. Together, these benefits keep Maryland’s seniors thriving — not just surviving.
That is why the growing instability of the Medicare Advantage program should alarm every Marylander. The system that has served our seniors so well is now under serious threat.
Three years ago, I warned that this crisis was coming. Today, it has arrived. More than 50,000 of Maryland’s most vulnerable seniors are scrambling to find a Medicare Advantage plan that meets their needs. Options are dwindling. Benefits are being scaled back. And anxiety is spreading among those who can least afford uncertainty.
Last week, more than 250 Marylanders crowded into a meeting of the state’s Health Services Cost Review Commission — a gathering that normally draws little public attention. The turnout spoke volumes. Seniors and advocates across the state, particularly in Baltimore City, are deeply worried about what’s coming next.
The problem lies not with the health plans themselves but with a federal payment system that fails to account for Maryland’s unique health care model. Unlike other states, Maryland regulates hospital prices under an all-payer system — an approach that has saved money and expanded access for decades. But the federal government’s Medicare Advantage payment formula doesn’t recognize that difference. As a result, plans operating here are reimbursed at lower rates, forcing them to make painful trade-offs that threaten coverage, networks and benefits.
We cannot afford to wait for Washington to fix this. The federal government’s dysfunction and gridlock have already left too many critical issues unresolved. Meanwhile, the health and well-being of Maryland’s seniors hang in the balance.
Maryland must act — and act now.
Our state has long been a national leader in health care innovation. From our hospital rate-setting system to our groundbreaking global budgets, Maryland has never hesitated to chart its own course when Washington falters. Now we must summon that same spirit again — this time, to protect our seniors and preserve the lifeline that Medicare Advantage provides.
State leaders should bring together health plans, health care providers and senior advocates to stabilize the program in Maryland. That could mean temporary state-level solutions — such as bridge funding, targeted incentives or regulatory flexibility — that allow plans to continue offering robust benefits. At the same time, Maryland must continue pressing the federal government to revise its payment structure to reflect the realities of our health care system.
This isn’t just about policy. It’s about people — real Marylanders whose health, security and independence depend on these plans. It’s about the grandmother in West Baltimore who relies on her grocery benefit to manage diabetes. The retired bus driver in Prince George’s County who uses his vision benefit to maintain his independence. The widow on the Eastern Shore who depends on transportation services to get to her doctor. For them, Medicare Advantage isn’t an abstract debate — it’s the foundation of their daily lives.
Maryland’s seniors deserve more than the bare minimum. They deserve stability, dignity and peace of mind. They have spent their lives contributing to this state — raising families, paying taxes and strengthening communities. Now it’s our responsibility to protect them.
This is not the moment to walk away from a system that works. It’s the time for bold, compassionate leadership — the kind Maryland has always been known for. Let’s bridge the gap, safeguard these vital benefits and ensure that every senior in our state can continue to live with health, independence and hope.
Maryland has led before. We can lead again. Let’s act now — before the lifeline our seniors depend on begins to fray.
Rev. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr. is the founder of the Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center. He was pastor of Union Baptist Church from 2007 through 2021.
