MARYLANDERS FACE SOARING ACA PLAN COSTS, LOSS OF MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Thousands of Marylanders face another round of sticker shock while shopping for individual healthcare plans after state officials approved a second year of steep premium increases in response to the expiration of federal tax credits that made those plans more affordable. Marylanders purchasing health plans on the state’s insurance marketplace face an average 14.6% premium rate increase on plans offered by the Maryland Health Connection, on top of the 13.4% rate hike from last year. Danielle Gaines/Maryland Matters.
- While insurance companies are also pulling back on Medicare Advantage elsewhere, Maryland is among the states losing a particularly high percentage of its plans, the private version of public Medicare. It is losing one-fourth of its current plans, going from 63 to 47. Florida is losing the most by sheer numbers, going from 611 plans to 560. Medicare Advantage has had an uneven history in Maryland, garnering about one-fourth of Medicare beneficiaries, compared to more than half nationwide. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
DEMS PICK UP ANOTHER STATE SENATE SEAT, THIS ONE IN FREDERICK: Maryland Democrats declared another election victory Saturday: Lara Westdorp over Republican state Sen. Bill Folden in Frederick County. As a retired police officer and sheriff’s deputy, Folden brought a conservative law-and-order perspective to the Senate. On the Judicial Proceedings Committee, which debates thorny issues of criminal justice, he often clashed with more liberal members. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- The Frederick County results came as election officials continued to count mail-in ballots, which lean heavily toward Democrats. In an interview earlier in the day Friday, Folden was not conceding the race, but he did acknowledge that mail-in ballots would favor the Democrats. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND DEMS FIRST CHALLENGE: DEALING WITH AFFORDABILITY AND A $3B DEFICIT: After consistently campaigning on affordability, Maryland Democrats are facing an early test of whether they can deliver on that promise: how can they ease costs for residents while addressing a projected $3 billion budget shortfall that has put tax and fee increases on the table? House Majority Leader David Moon said some of the relief Democrats hope to provide depends on action in Washington, including restoring federal funding for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. He also pointed to the war in Iran as a factor driving up gas prices. Tinashe Chingarande and Konner Metz/The Baltimore Sun.
STATE SENATOR-ELECT RUFF LEANED HEAVILY ON FRATERNITY FOR HIS WIN: Del. Malcolm Ruff knew he was in for a battle when he challenged state Sen. Dalya Attar for her Baltimore seat in the Democratic primary. He also knew he could lean on his special network of fraternity brothers and sorority sisters, known as the Divine Nine, or D9. Now, Ruff is heading to Annapolis, and he attributes much of his political success to the D9 network. John-John Williams/The Baltimore Banner.
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SUSAN LEE AMONG DEPARTURES TO MOORE’s 2nd TERM CABINET: More changes are coming to Gov. Wes Moore’s Cabinet as the administration prepares to enter a second term in January. Moore, a Democrat, announced the departures Friday, a day after announcing a new chief of staff and three days after winning election to a second term. Such staff changes are not unusual for two-term governors. The list of changes include Secretary of State Susan Lee, Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Carolyn Scruggs and Veterans and Military Affairs Secretary Ed Rothstein. Interim leaders took over immediately. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
LANDOWNERS TAKE RELIABILITY PROJECT SURVEYS TO THE SUPREME COURT: Maryland landowners are taking their fight against the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project to the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging a ruling that allows utility company PSEG to enter private properties for survey work without landowners’ consent. Marissa Yelenik/The Baltimore Sun.
- Last year, a federal judge allowed the developer, the New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group, to proceed with those surveys on the land of nonconsenting landowners. A Virginia appeals court upheld that verdict in August. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
HOGAN CALLS GOP’s LOSSES ‘TOTAL REBUKE’ OF TRUMP: President Donald Trump bears responsibility for the GOP’s historic Tuesday defeat, “a complete and total rebuke” of Trump and his policies, said former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan. Speaking to CNN on Friday night, Hogan said American voters were “completely fed up” with D.C. leadership not focusing on topics like the prices of gas and groceries, as well as ending the war in Iran. The White House ignored political independents, Hogan said, a group that now makes up a record high 45 percent of the country. Michelle Boorstein/The Washington Post.
WHICH DIRECTION WILL VAN HOLLEN MOVE NOW? Abdul El-Sayed wants Sen. Chris Van Hollen to be the next U.S. Senate majority leader. But Van Hollen says he is “kicking the tires” on a run in 2028 for president. Asked if Chuck Schumer is the right person for Senate majority leader, Van Hollen responds that they need to “make clear to the caucus that he or she is going to do everything within our power to end the illegal and senseless war in Iran” as well as address affordability. Kenneth Moton/Fox 5 DC-TV News.
HUTZELL: ONE DAY OF REST & CHEER BEFORE CAMPAIGNING STARTS AGAIN: A day. That’s how much time I got to enjoy the reminder that democracy still works, that President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are not untouchable and that the USA is still capable of throwing the bums out. “Enjoy American democracy at work,” U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said. Then we started talking about the 2028 presidential campaign. It began Wednesday. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE ARMY SUPERVISOR CONTENDS SERVICE ACCOUNTS ARE FALSE: For years, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has described his Afghanistan deployment as the experience of an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper who led soldiers in combat. Now, the Army officer who supervised Moore daily says his accounts of what happened there in 2005 and 2006 are unequivocally false. Drew Sullins/The Baltimore Sun.
FIRST LATINA ELECTED TO ARUNDEL COUNTY COUNCIL: A blue wave continues to ripple through Anne Arundel County as first-time candidate Natalie Ogilvie declared victory over incumbent Republican Amanda Fiedler in District 5. The Democrat is the first Latina to be elected to the County Council. Matti Gellman/The Baltimore Banner.
IN BALTIMORE COUNTY, MAIL-IN BALLOTS MAY TURN TIDE IN 3 COUNCIL RACES: Mail-in ballots favored Democrats in three tight Baltimore County Council races Sunday, including one in which a Democrat moved ahead of an incumbent Republican. As of Sunday night, 45,982 of the 72,668 returned mail-in ballots had been counted. In the District 5 race between Democrat Shawn McIntosh and Republican Councilman Nino Mangione, McIntosh leads by 311 votes. Courtney Bell/The Baltimore Sun.
COMMENTARY: WHAT IF JONES FALLS, BURIED BELOW I-83, WERE RESTORED? Baltimore’s founding river has been hidden below I-83 for over 50 years, overlooked and mistreated. As the elevated expressway covering the Jones Falls nears the projected end of its lifespan, more and more Baltimoreans are imagining and asking what might come next instead. What future do we want for the river at the heart of our city, and how might we get there? These questions propel a new exhibition we’ve organized of speculative works that envision a radically restored and reimagined Jones Falls, currently on view at The Peale Museum through Nov. 22. Bruce Willen, Anand Pandian and Lee Davis/Baltimore Brew.
