Legislative Hotline 2017 SESSION OF THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Here are some of the hot issues as the 2017 Legislative Session develops:

More Legislative Changes
Higher Education Day in Annapolis
Community Behavioral Health Legislation
Johns Hopkins Unlicensed Medical Practitioners Bill Passes the House and Hearing is Held in the Senate

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BILLS INTRODUCED

Behavioral Health

HB1010 Health - Certified Recovery Residences - Urine Testing

Requiring a specified credentialing entity to establish minimum standards requiring specified residents and employees of a certified recovery residence to submit to a urine test at a frequency and of a type determined by the credentialing entity; etc.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/8 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1082/SB1060 Heroin and Opioid Education and Community Action Act of 2017 (Start Talking Maryland Act)

Requiring the Administrative Office of the Courts to assess drug court programs to determine how to increase and expand the programs; requiring county boards of education and specified institutions of higher education to establish specified policies; requiring the Governor to appropriate specified funds to specified agencies in a specified fiscal year for specified purposes; prohibiting specified personnel who respond to an overdose emergency from being held personally liable; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1276 Health - Patient-Centered Opioid Addiction Treatment Act

Requiring, on or before January 1, 2018, specified opioid treatment programs to meet specified requirements; requiring an opioid treatment program to establish specified treatment protocols; requiring an opioid treatment program to provide a copy of the protocols to the Office of Health Care Quality before being licensed by the Behavioral Health Administration; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1278 Public Health - Health Care Facilities and Health Care Systems - Availability of Buprenorphine Prescribers

Requiring health care facilities that are not part of a health care system and health care systems to make available to patients the services of at least one health care provider who is authorized to prescribe buprenorphine under federal law for every 100 patients; authorizing specified health care facilities and health care systems to contract with specified health care providers to comply with a specified provision of this Act; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1288 Maryland Insurance Administration - Workgroup on the Provision and Coverage of Behavioral Health Crisis Services

Requiring the Maryland Insurance Administration to convene a workgroup that includes specified individuals and interested stakeholders to identify barriers to the provision of behavioral health crisis services and coverage of the services by health insurance carriers; requiring the Administration to report the findings and recommendations of the workgroup to the General Assembly on or before December 1, 2017; etc.

Hearing Date: Mon 3/13 1:00 PM

Effective Date: June 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1329/SB967 Heroin and Opioid Prevention Effort (HOPE) and Treatment Act of 2017

Requiring specified institutions of higher education to offer credits in substance use disorders, effective treatment for substance use disorders, and pain management; requiring the Behavioral Health Administration to establish at least a specified number of crisis treatment centers that provide individuals who are in a substance use disorder crisis with access to specified clinical staff; requiring that at least one crisis treatment center be located in each geographical region of the State; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: June 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann,Mary Clapsaddle

HB1383/SB1042 Behavioral Health Administration - Outpatient Civil Commitment Pilot Program

Authorizing the Behavioral Health Administration to establish an outpatient civil commitment pilot program to allow for the release of an individual who is involuntarily admitted for inpatient treatment under a specified provision of law on the condition of the individual's admission into the pilot program; requiring the pilot program to include specified criteria, requirements, and rights; requiring the Administration, under specified circumstances, to submit a specified report on or before December 1 of each year; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/14 1:00 PM

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1468/SB584 Medical Records - Disclosure of Directory Information and Medical Records - Mental Health Services

Altering the circumstances under which a health care provider may disclose a medical record developed primarily in connection with mental health services to family members of a patient or other individuals without the authorization of a person in interest; and altering the definition of "directory information" as it relates to confidentiality of medical records to include health care information developed primarily in connection with mental health services.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/15 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1613/SB876 Individuals With Disabilities - Establishing Community-Based Long-Term Services and Supports (Maryland Disability Integration Act)

Requiring public entities to provide community-based long-term services and supports to specified individuals; requiring the Department of Disabilities to adopt a comprehensive plan that includes a specific and reasonable time frame and that is funded from any source; requiring the Department to complete its comprehensive plan no later July 1, 2018; providing that public entities may not discriminate against individuals who require long-term services and supports by specified means; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: July 1, 2017, July 1, 2018, July 1, 2019
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

SB1129 Substance Use Disorder Treatment - Licensing of Outpatient Programs and Provision of Naloxone Kits

Prohibiting the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene from requiring, under specified circumstances, that an outpatient substance use disorder treatment program be granted specified accreditation as a condition of licensure; requiring each hospital emergency department to establish and implement a policy of providing a naloxone kit to patients admitted for an opioid overdose and training the patients in the proper method of administering the naloxone before the patient is released; etc.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/22 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

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Health Care Administration & Facilities

HB1009 Health - Standards for Involuntary Admissions and Petitions for Emergency Evaluation - Modification

Modifying specified standards for the involuntary admission of specified individuals who have experienced a drug overdose to specified facilities or a Veterans' Administration hospital to include an individual who has a mental disorder or is not a minor, has experienced a drug overdose, and has health insurance coverage as a dependent on the parent's health insurance plan; modifying specified standards for petitions for the emergency evaluation of specified individuals who have experienced a drug overdose; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/14 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1516/SB750 Public Health - Health Record and Payment Clearing House - Pilot Program

Requiring the Maryland Health Care Commission, on or before December 31, 2017, to research and evaluate public and private health record and payment clearing houses, develop standards, determine specified information, and report its recommendations and funding requests to the General Assembly; requiring the Commission to establish for use in a pilot program a health record and payment clearing house on or before January 1, 2019; specifying the capabilities of the proposed health records and payment clearing house; etc.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/15 1:00 PM

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1553/SB1075 Nonprofit Health Entity - Acquisition - Waiver of Waiting Period

Authorizing the appropriate regulating entity, if it determines that waiving the waiting period under specified provisions of law is in the best interest of the public, to waive the 90-day waiting period between the date a determination is made on the acquisition of a nonprofit health entity and the date the determination takes effect.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: Upon Enactment
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

SB732/HB1460 Hospitals - Acquisitions of Physician Offices, Group Practices, and Outpatient Health Care Entities - Notice

Requiring a hospital to provide specified patients of a specified office, practice, or entity specified notice of a specified acquisition at least 30 days before the acquisition; requiring a specified notice to be in a specified form; establishing that a violation of the Act is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum fine of $500; etc.

Hearing Date: Thu 3/9 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann,Rianna Matthews-Brown

SB935/HB961 Public Health - Delegation of Health Care Decisions - Temporary Health Care Agent for Minors

Authorizing the parent or legal guardian of a minor to delegate to a temporary health care agent the authority to consent to and make decisions regarding medically necessary health care treatment of the minor; requiring a specified delegation to be made on a specified medical authorization treatment form; prohibiting a parent or legal guardian from delegating to a temporary health care agent the power to make specified decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment of the minor; etc.

Hearing Date: Thu 3/16 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

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Health Care Facilities

HB1172/SB400 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Biosafety Level 3 Laboratories

Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop and make available a standardized form for a BSL-3 laboratory for specified purposes; requiring the laboratories to report specified information to the Department on or before September 30, 2018, and on or before September 30 each subsequent year; requiring the Department to report, on or before December 31, 2018, and on or before December 31 each subsequent year, the number and location of the laboratories, in total and by local jurisdiction, to specified State officials; etc.

Hearing Date: Mon 3/13 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

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Health Care Occupations

HB1211 Health Care Providers - Opioid Prescriptions - Limitations and Requirements

Prohibiting a health care provider, under specified circumstances, from writing a prescription for an opiod for more than a 7-day supply; and requiring a health care provider who is prescribing an opioid to a minor to discuss specified information with the minor and, under specified circumstances, the minor's custodial parent or legal guardian.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1432 Health Care Providers - Prescription Opioids - Limits on Prescribing (The Prescriber Limits Act of 2017)

Authorizing the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to take specified action relating to a controlled dangerous substances registration under specified circumstances; prohibiting health care providers from prescribing to a patient more than a 7-day supply of specified controlled dangerous substances under specified circumstances; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: Upon Enactment
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1584/SB1124 Maryland Dentistry Act - Scope of Practice and Penalties for Violations

Prohibiting a person from being considered to be practicing dentistry or violating specified provisions of law based solely on whether the person provides specified services or engages in specified acts; providing that specified provisions of law do not prohibit a dentist or dental practice from contracting to receive specified services or benefiting from specified acts; altering specified penalties for specified acts related to the unauthorized practice of dentistry; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

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Health Insurance/Health Care Access

HB1128/SB768 Health Insurance - Prescription Drugs - Formulary Changes

Prohibiting insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations from making specified formulary changes during a plan year and the open enrollment period that precedes the plan year; and applying the Act to all policies, contracts, and health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on or after October 1, 2017.

Hearing Date: Thu 3/9 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1212 Health Insurance - Prior Authorization for Opioid Antagonists - Prohibition

Prohibiting specified insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations from applying a preauthorization requirement for opioid antagonist drug products; applying the Act to all policies contracts, and health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on or after January 1, 2018; etc.

Hearing Date: Mon 3/13 1:00 PM

Effective Date: January 1, 2018
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1557/SB1156 Health Insurance - Coverage for Male Sterilization - High-Deductible Health Plans

Exempting a high-deductible health plan from the prohibition on application of a deductible to coverage for male sterilization; and applying the Act to all policies, contracts, and health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on or after January 1, 2018.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: January 1, 2018
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1610/SB1126 Public Health - Generic Drugs and Medical Supplies Purchasing Cooperative Workgroup

Requiring the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene to convene a workgroup to study the advisability of the State, along with hospitals, pharmacies, health care facilities and private medical practices, forming a generic drugs and medical supplies purchasing cooperative; requiring that the workgroup include specified individuals; requiring the workgroup to make recommendations regarding specified matters and report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before January 1, 2018; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

SB768/HB1128 Health Insurance - Prescription Drugs - Formulary Changes

Prohibiting insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations from making specified formulary changes during the plan year and the open enrollment period that precedes the plan year; and applying the Act to all policies, contracts, and health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on or after October 1, 2017.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/8 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann,Rianna Matthews-Brown

SB898/HB1147 Health Insurance - Prescription Drugs - Dispensing Synchronization

Requiring specified insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations to allow and apply a prorated daily copayment or coinsurance amount for a partial supply of a prescription drug dispensed by an in-network pharmacy under specified circumstances; prohibiting a specified insurer, nonprofit health service plan, and health maintenance organization from denying payment of benefits to an in-network pharmacy for a covered prescription drug solely on a specified basis; etc.

Hearing Date: Thu 3/9 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

SB968/HB1127 Health Insurance - Coverage Requirements for Behavioral Health Disorders - Modifications

Altering specified coverage requirements applicable to specified health benefit plans for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and emotional, drug use, and alcohol use disorders; etc.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/8 1:00 PM

Effective Date: June 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

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Health, General/Public/Environmental

HB1083/SB1081 Health - Family Planning Services - Continuity of Care

Establishing the Family Planning Program in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to ensure the continuity of family planning services in the State; requiring the Program to provide family planning services to specified individuals through specified providers; authorizing the Program to adopt specified regulations; requiring the Maryland Medical Assistance Program to ensure access to and continuity of services provided by specified family planning providers in a specified manner; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/14 1:00 PM

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1404 Public Safety - Sexual Assault Examination Kits - Best Practices Study

Requiring the Secretary of State Police, the Forensic Laboratory Advisory Committee, and the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene to collaborate on research to improve the State's collection, testing, and storage of sexual assault examination kits, as well as victim notification procedures; requiring the research to include specified issues, to identify specified improvements, to outline a specified plan, and to recommend specified regulations; requiring a report to be submitted to the General Assembly by December 1, 2018; etc.

Hearing Date: Fri 3/10 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1481 Public Health - Immunizations of Adolescents - Recommendations

Requiring the Statewide Advisory Commission on Immunizations to develop and make available to each primary care provider a notice regarding the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention related to immunizations of adolescents and guidance for making a specified recommendation as required under a specified provision of the Act; etc.

Hearing Date: Fri 3/10 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

SB841/HB1167 Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act of 2017

Prohibiting, except under specified circumstances, the performance of or the attempt to perform a dismemberment abortion that kills an unborn child on a pregnant woman; authorizing a specified individual to seek a hearing before the State Board of Physicians on a specified issue; providing that specified findings of the Board from a specified hearing are admissible on that issue at a specified trial; providing for the delay of a specified trial for a specified purpose for a specified number of days; etc.

Hearing Date: Wed 3/15 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

SB965 Public Health - Auto-Injectable Epinephrine - Certification for Emergency Administration

Establishing requirements for an authorized entity to obtain and store a supply of auto-injectable epinephrine; prohibiting an authorized entity from obtaining and storing auto-injectable epinephrine unless the authorized entity has at least two employees who are certificate holders or specified affiliated individuals; requiring an authorized entity to maintain a copy of a specified certificate issued to a specified individual; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

SB1020 Maryland Health Care Regulatory Reform Act of 2017

Reorganizing the Maryland Health Care Commission and the Health Services Cost Review Commission to be the Maryland Health Care and Cost Review Commission; repealing the Health Services Cost Review Commission, the Health Services Cost Review Commission Fund, and related provisions of law; requiring the Commission to submit to the Governor and General Assembly by January 1, 2018, a proposal for a streamlined certificate of need process and a specified list of health care facilities and services; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/21 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

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Long Term Care

HB1599/SB1109 Nursing Homes - Partial Payment for Services Provided

Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to make a specified advance payment to a nursing home at the request of the nursing home under specified circumstances; providing that the advance payment may not exceed 50% of the estimated amount due for the uncompensated services; requiring the Department to pay the balance due to a nursing home under specified circumstances; requiring the Department to recover specified advance payments in a specified manner under specified circumstances; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

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Medicaid

HB1158 Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Comprehensive Dental Benefits for Adults - Authorization

Authorizing the Maryland Medical Assistance Program, beginning on January 1, 2019, and subject to specified limitations, to provide comprehensive dental services for adults whose annual household income is at or below 133 percent of the poverty level.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/14 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1216/SB756 Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Medication Adherence Technology Pilot Program

Establishing a specified pilot program to expand the use of medication adherence technology to increase prescription drug adherence of specified Maryland Medical Assistance Program recipients; requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to administer the pilot program; requiring the Department to select and provide a medication adherence technology system to specified Maryland Medical Assistance Program recipients; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: June 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

HB1233/SB984 Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Enhanced Security Compassionate Release Program

Establishing the Enhanced Security Compassionate Release Program in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; providing for the purpose of the Program; requiring the Program to include a specified initial cap on participation; etc.

Hearing Date: Tue 3/7 1:00 PM

Effective Date: July 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Nicole McCann

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Pharmaceuticals

HB1159/SB814 Pharmacists - Dispensing of Prescription Drugs - Single Dispensing of Dosage Units

Authorizing a pharmacist to dispense, in a single dispensing and exercising the pharmacist's professional judgment, a quantity of a prescription drug that is up to a specified number of authorized dosage units and does not exceed a specified supply of the prescription drug; and providing that the Act does not apply to a specified controlled dangerous substance.

Hearing Date: Thu 3/9 1:00 PM

Effective Date: October 1, 2017
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

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Workplace Regulation

HB1614/SB1116 Maryland Fair Scheduling, Wages, and Benefits Act

Requiring a specified employer to provide specified employees with specified estimates and work schedules within specified time periods and notify employees of specified changes to specified schedules; authorizing an employer to make specified changes to a scheduled shift within a specified period of time; requiring an employer, except under specified circumstances, to pay specified predictability pay under specified circumstances; providing that the predictability pay is in addition to specified other pay; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: October 1, 2018
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

HB1615/SB1145 Maryland Fair Scheduling Act

Requiring a specified employer, except under specified circumstances, to pay specified employees at a specified rate for specified shifts; providing that a shift trade includes when the employer transmits the shift trade offer under specified circumstances; providing that an employee has the right to decline work hours that occur during the 11 hours following the end of a shift; requiring an employer to pay one-and-a-half times the employee's regular rate for any hours worked during the 11 hours following the previous shift; etc.

Hearing Date:

Effective Date: October 1, 2018
For more information, please contact: Rianna Matthews-Brown

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