<<<The Census survey is a small sampling. Other government surveys such as the one below dispute the findings.>>>
Fran Doherty, vice president of government affairs for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, which covers 1.5 million state residents, said Maryland has historically mandated more benefits and administrative services -- making premiums more expensive.
"The sheer numbers of those benefits applied to all insured contracts -- that may have something to do with it," she said.
Others, considering several state efforts to help the uninsured, were puzzled.
"What is it? Why are we seeing more and more uninsured at a period when you would intuitively expect it to be the opposite?" asked Nancy Fiedler, spokeswoman for the Maryland Hospital Association.
Some cautioned that the most recent increase might not be as sharp as it appears because the U.S. Census Bureau uses a relatively small sample of people to conduct its study. John Colmers, executive director of the Maryland Health Care Commission, said his agency is releasing its own analysis this week. For the past three years, the commission shows, the numbers of uninsured people have been "relatively flat," Colmers said.
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