“Call your personal physician.”

That’s what we should tell our constituents.

We were told that a briefing yesterday on the legislation giving Governor Hogan emergency power to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

“What about the people who don’t have a personal physician?” I asked.

Under the managed care program for Medicaid, people do have a doctor, the witness replied.

The heart of Maryland’s system for reimbursement for medical care is that everyone pays the same rate for hospital care.

If you have private insurance or if you’re on Medicare on Medicaid, you pay the same rate. Those payments help cover the costs for uninsured patients.

Much of the legislation in my committee, Health and Government Operations, deals with which health care providers, in addition to doctors and dentists, will be considered qualified to provide care.

And be compensated for doing so.

I have tried to address providing preventive care for those who do not normally receive it.

A crisis shines a spotlight on all of those issues.