Maryland health exchange board opts for virtual meeting

All eyes are on Maryland's health exchange — well, sort of.

Maryland Health Connection, the state's online insurance marketplace, will go live Nov. 15 after a six-month scramble among administrators to replace the state's failed system with technology and code from Connecticut. The overhaul has been closely watched and debated as the gubernatorial election approaches Nov. 4.

But anyone who had been hoping for a colorful public discussion of the exchange's progress at a monthly board meeting Tuesday had to settle for a more modern form of communication. The meeting — one of the last before the exchange launches — was changed from an in-person meeting at the Maryland Health Care Commission in Baltimore to a telephone conference hours before its scheduled start.

The board decided to hold the meeting through telephone conference because the main agenda item — an IT update from State IT Secretary Isabel FitzGerald — needed to be done remotely, anyway, said State Health Secretary Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, who chairs the exchange board. FitzGerald is in Camp Hill, Pa., where she is working with exchange contractor Deloitte.

Sharfstein said a virtual conference would also allow more people than would typically attend a board meeting to listen in.

The exchange has held meetings by phone in the past, but typically opts for an in-person gathering for its regularly scheduled monthly meetings.

Telephone conferences are acceptable for public meetings under Maryland's Open Meetings Act, so long as there is a way for the public to participate. The exchange made available a dial-in for anyone who wanted to listen to the meeting and set up a speakerphone at the Maryland Health Care Commission, where the meeting was originally scheduled to take place, for people who were not aware of the change of plans. FitzGerald's IT status report and an update from independent auditor Angarai were posted on the exchange's website about a half hour before the meeting.

Sarah covers health care, higher education, biotech and technology.