County Plans Lottery to Aid The Uninsured

175 Residents Will Have Shot at Low-Cost Coverage

Up to 175 uninsured Howard County residents will have a chance to obtain low-cost health insurance coverage if they win a lottery announced this week by county officials. The lottery is the county's latest attempt to address its role in the nation's burgeoning insurance crisis.

"This is one small but very nice step in increasing access to care to needy Howard County residents who currently don't have it," county Health Officer Peter Beilenson said Monday at a news conference.

The deadline for lottery entries is Oct. 9. Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health organization, will provide coverage to lottery winners at reduced rates.

Information gathered from lottery entries also will be used as Howard officials try to cover residents through a countywide health network. Although details about the network have not been released, health officials say it will provide comprehensive services to all uninsured adults in the county, and it will be funded through a combination of existing government funds, private money and foundation grants.

With the unveiling of the plan Oct. 16, the county will join local governments that are attempting to fill the gaps in health-care coverage even as state and national leaders try to come up with a broader solution to deal with the country's 47 million uninsured.

Although Howard has the distinction of being among the wealthiest suburbs in the nation, 18,000 to 20,000 adults in the county of 270,000 are uninsured.

"In the richest county in the richest state in the richest country in the world, we can do better," said County Executive Ken Ulman (D).

Howard's health network plan is expected to target working-poor adults who often do not have insurance through employers. The children of the working poor are eligible for coverage under the Maryland Children's Health Program.

"Eighty-four percent of those without health insurance are working," Ulman said. "These are our neighbors. . . . We know we can save lives."

The lottery is open to residents at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level, an annual income of $51,625 for a family of four. To qualify, entrants must be uninsured. They also must be ineligible for health coverage under Medicare or Medicaid or unable to afford the coverage offered at their workplace because the monthly premium is more than 9 percent of the family's income.

Lottery applications and guidelines are available at Howard County libraries, county Health Department offices and the department's Web site: http://www.hchealth.org. Applicants with questions may call the department at 410-313-4267. The submission deadline is 8 p.m. Oct 9. Winners will be notified by mail.