Providing Quality Affordable Health Care

Martin O’Malley believes access to health care should be a right – not a privilege. Martin O’Malley believes that as long as senior citizens are forced to choose between medicine and rent; as long as families end up in the emergency room for routine illnesses because they have nowhere else to go; and as long as our neighbors are dying due to lack of care, we have a responsibility to do better. Martin O’Malley’s leadership in focusing on the health and well being of Baltimore’s families and communities has led to a healthier city. As Mayor of Baltimore, Martin O’Malley has worked to ensure more people have access to quality and affordable health care.

• Martin O’Malley started the Baltimore Medicare Part D Surveillance & Response Initiative to support seniors and pharmacists in their transition to the new Medicare prescription drug program. In January 2006, Martin O’Malley called upon Governor Ehrlich to use Baltimore’s program as a blueprint to assist Medicare recipients statewide.

• Martin O’Malley launched an innovative program to significantly lower the cost of prescription drugs for Baltimore residents.

• Martin O’Malley tackled the problem of drug addicted residents head on and led the fight to double the funding available for drug treatment. As a result, Baltimore had the nation’s second largest decline in drug-related emergency room visits.

• Martin O’Malley reduced by 65% the number of children exposed to damaging high levels of lead.

• Martin O’Malley’s leadership has brought school age immunization compliance to 99.8% – up from 60% in 1996 – the best of any urban school district in the country.

• Martin O’Malley’s innovative policies include granting additional leave time for all full and part-time city employees to get cancer screenings.

• Mayor O’Malley fought for the Fair Share Health Care Act to force large corporations to pay their fair share of employee health care costs rather than steering their lower paid employees on tax payer financed Medicaid rolls.

• Martin O’Malley has increased city funding for community health centers that provide preventive health care for lower income families, the elderly, individuals with disabilities and children.