Health Care

 Maryland has been a leader on health care in many ways, yet many Marylanders remain uninsured and others struggle with the high cost of health care and prescription drugs. We need to work to ensure that all Marylanders have access to affordable, quality health care. 

Passed several bills addressing pandemic-related health care issues. Because everyone was at home and not seeing their doctors, many children are behind on their childhood vaccines. HB 1040 (sponsored by D16 Delegate Ariana Kelly) gives temporary authority to licensed and qualified pharmacists to provide those vital vaccines, and requires a report that looks at the capacity of the health care system to provide childhood vaccines. HB 123 builds on and expands the life-saving work we did last year to enable telehealth. Finally, the pandemic has highlighted the need for residents to understand and plan for long-term care of their loved ones. HB 599 requires the Maryland Department of Health to prepare and publish materials to assist residents with long-term care planning.

We also passed several bills addressing health equity:

• HB 28 requires health equity and bias training as part of the accreditation and licensing process for all health care providers including registered doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners. 
• HB 78 establishes the Maryland Commission on Health Equity to create a health equity framework that works to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequities in the State.
• HB 463 creates a process to designate Health Equity Resource Communities that will provide targeted support in order to reduce health disparities, improve health outcomes, improve access to primary care, promote primary and secondary prevention services, and reduce health care costs and hospital admissions and readmissions.
• HB 849 addresses the cost to gain access to certain medical records, which disproportionately affects low-income communities and the homeless, by lowering the maximum fee that can be charged for a copy of a medical record and preventing health care providers from charging a separate preparation fee.