Meredith Cohn

1 week ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Meredith Cohn

The University of Maryland Medical System filed a lawsuit Monday in Baltimore against one of the private companies that manages Medicaid claims for the state, seeking more than $15 million for medical care it says was wrongly denied. The suit against Maryland Physicians Care MCO was borne out of the care the hospital system provided for 15,000 lower-income patients who use Medicaid.

2 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Meredith Cohn

A national expert on vaccines from Maryland decried the firing Monday of all the members of a prestigious panel on which he used to serve. Dr. Wilbur Chen, aprofessor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, served until last June on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which guides federal decisions on the rollout of vaccinations and the people who should receive them.

3 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Meredith Cohn

The cost of health insurance plans that coversroughly 500,000 Marylanders through a state exchangecould spike next year as insurance companies brace for cuts at the federal level. Insurers on the state’s health exchange are seeking premium increases averaging 17% for individuals and 5.5% for businesses on plans beginning next year, according to the Maryland Insurance Administration.

4 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Meredith Cohn |Emily Opilo

Baltimore is struggling with its public health. Sexually transmitted infections are rising, and infant and maternal health disparities continue. Opioid overdoses have dropped but remain substantial. The city could stand to see a doctor. For the better part of the past two years, Baltimore has been without a permanent health commissioner. On Friday, the city announced that Dr. Michelle Taylor, currently head of the Shelby County, Tennessee, health department, had been hired for that role.

4 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Meredith Cohn |Emily Opilo

Mayor Brandon Scott said Friday he is appointing Dr. Michelle Taylor as Baltimore’s next health commissioner. She will serve as the top doctor responsible for a sprawling list of services and policies in a city with more than its share of health troubles, from an ongoing opioid overdose crisis to rising sexually transmitted infections. Taylor will come to the post, vacant for months, from the Shelby County, Tennessee, health department.