Rising hospital costs are fueling Maryland’s affordability crisis

As a small business owner and financial services professional, I have spent my career helping Maryland families plan for the future, saving for college, preparing for retirement, and navigating life’s unexpected challenges. That work is more than a profession for me. It is a personal passion.

And increasingly, those conversations are dominated by one issue: affordability.

Families across Maryland are doing everything right, working hard, budgeting carefully, planning, yet still struggling to make ends meet. One of the biggest and most unpredictable pressures they face is the cost of healthcare, especially hospital care.

In fact a recent UMBC poll showed that 57% of respondents said that their healthcare, including prescription drugs and medications has become “less affordable” in the last year and of those worried about their personal financial concerns, 50% indicated they were very or extremely worried about their healthcare and medical costs.

Time and again, I sit with families who are forced to make difficult tradeoffs because of medical costs. Too often a hospital visit does not just bring concern about health, it brings anxiety about the bill that follows. Too often, those bills are confusing, inconsistent, and far higher than expected.

That is why transparency in hospital pricing and accountability in how hospitals operate are so important right now.

Nonprofit hospitals receive significant tax breaks and public support in exchange for serving their communities. That is a fair arrangement, but only if those hospitals are truly delivering meaningful community benefits in return. Too often, that is not what families are experiencing.

When pricing is not clear and accountability is lacking, costs rise. And when costs rise, it is Maryland families, not institutions, who are left to shoulder the burden.

This issue is becoming even more urgent as Maryland prepares to lose its long-standing authority to set hospital rates under a new federal framework. As that authority shifts away from the state, transparency and accountability are among the few tools left to ensure hospitals are operating in the best interest of patients.

To their credit, lawmakers from both parties recognized the challenge during this year’s legislative session. Delegate Dana Jones and Senator Steve Hershey came together to advance bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening oversight of nonprofit hospitals and improving transparency around how community benefit dollars are spent.

The bill drew broad, bipartisan support from across Maryland, including voices representing workers, patients, insurers, and community health advocates. That kind of coalition does not come together often, and it speaks to just how urgent this issue has become for families and communities across the state.

Yet despite that strong bipartisan backing, the legislation has lost momentum and appears to be dead. The bill has stalled in the Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Beidle, who also happens to serve on the board of a major nonprofit hospital in Maryland.

But the need for action has not gone away.

Transparency and accountability are not partisan issues. They are basic expectations when public dollars and family finances are at stake. Marylanders deserve hospitals that provide clear pricing, demonstrate real community benefit, and operate in a way that supports, not strains, household budgets.

If we are serious about addressing affordability in this state, we cannot ignore the role hospital costs play in driving financial stress for families. The path forward is clear: greater transparency, stronger accountability, and a renewed focus on making healthcare more affordable.

Maryland families deserve better than what we are getting from Annapolis. We need leaders that are willing to tackle the affordability crisis head on, and that starts with real solutions that help address the serious issues our states faces – including the skyrocketing costs of healthcare in our state.

Tyrone Keys is a small business owner, financial services professional, and candidate for Lieutenant Governor for the state of Maryland.