As state disability services face cuts, new report flags high pay and overtime at MDH

MARYLAND (WBFF) — As Maryland lawmakers weigh major cuts to services for people with developmental disabilities, a new analysis of state payroll data is fueling new questions about spending and priorities inside the Maryland Department of Health.

As the state faces another billion-dollar budget shortfall, lawmakers are considering roughly $150 million in reductions to the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA). Nearly $62 million of those proposed cuts would fall on the self-directed services program, which allows people with disabilities to remain in their homes, choosing their own caregivers and support services instead of being placed in institutional care.

Families who rely on the program warn the proposed wage reductions will drive away long-term caregivers who they can’t afford to lose.

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“If their pay gets cut, they’re going to quit. They told me that,” said Joan Warren, whose daughter was born with a rare genetic disorder, “They aren’t even going to have a living wage.”

Warren isn’t just a worried mom, she’s a PhD-trained nurse with years of experience crunching numbers and analyzing healthcare data. Leading her to take a closer look at publicly available state payroll records.

“I was noticing a lot of overtime as well as high salaries,” Warren said, “I thought to myself, there’s something really amiss here.”

Her analysis of the Maryland Department of Health’s (MDH) payroll data found the top 6% — nearly 500 employees — make more than Governor Wes Moore’s $188,000 annual salary. Collectively, that small group takes home nearly $142 million, accounting for roughly 18% of the agency’s total payroll.

Warren also found $49 million in overtime pay, with 43% of that overtime going to those top earners. In some cases, individuals earned more than $100,000 in overtime alone, on top of six-figure base salaries.

According to Warren’s findings, the department’s top overtime earner received $198,000 in overtime, in addition to $319,000 in base pay and $13,000 in additional compensation, for a total of more than $530,000.

“We had two employees actually doubling their salaries,” Warren said. “That, to us, was very disturbing. I realize that many jobs in the Department of Health may involve physicians and specialized roles, but this seems very excessive when we’re talking about taxpayer dollars.”

State Senator Justin Ready cited the report in a recent social media post, calling on lawmakers to take a closer look at administrative spending before cutting services for vulnerable residents.

“Instead of looking at the developmentally disabled community so much, let’s look at the people — the bureaucrats, the people making money off our tax dollars — and get a better handle on that,” Ready said in the video posted to Facebook.

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As families prepare for the possibility of service cuts, Warren argues her report shows the state has other options.

“They cannot do this to the families and this program that we depend on,” she said. “Especially when there are other ways to do this. This is ethically wrong. It’s morally wrong.”

FOX45 News reached out to the MDH and the Governor’s Office for comment on Warren’s findings and to ask whether the state would consider reining in overtime and high-level compensation before cutting services for people with disabilities. As of publication, neither office had responded.