Maryland group unveils dumb universal health care plan.

Nation: This is a winning plan, raise taxes on everyone and then subsidize the poor. A very compassionate plan that skips over the fact it would run business out of Maryland, raise prices for everyone on the income scale and generally piss people off.

Maryland health advocates unveiled a $15.5 billion proposal yesterday for universal health care that would subsidize insurance coverage for low-income residents with a payroll tax and increases to cigarette and alcohol taxes. The Maryland Citizens Health Initiative also calls for mandated coverage for those who do not get it through their employer. The group pledged that the policies would be more affordable than they are now. The coalition of labor groups, churches, businesses and community organizations consulted with health policy experts from the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The plan aims to build on two programs the General Assembly passed last year, an expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program for the poor and subsidies to some small businesses to help them afford insurance. But lawmakers and even the advocates acknowledged that the plan has no chance for passage soon. "We don't expect it to pass in 2009," said Vincent DeMarco, president of the nonprofit Baltimore-based group. "This is the beginning of a campaign."