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MedChi Health Insurance Reforms Move in the House
MedChi’s health insurance reform agenda continued to make progress in the House of Delegates this week as the Health and Government Operations Committee advanced several important bills focused on network stability, behavioral health integration, and long-term insurance market sustainability.
House Bill 684 – Health Insurance – Material Changes to Provider Networks – Notification and Special Enrollment Period, requested by the Maryland Insurance Administration, strengthens protections for patients when significant provider network changes occur. The bill requires additional notice to enrollees when providers leave networks, enhances continuity-of-care protections, and creates a special enrollment period for affected patients. The legislation was introduced following the recent contract dispute between UnitedHealthcare and Johns Hopkins and other providers, which highlighted the need for stronger safeguards.
House Bill 746 – Maryland Medical Assistance Program and Health Insurance – Collaborative Care Model – Cost Sharing Prohibition moves forward efforts to expand the collaborative care model for behavioral health by ensuring all carriers participate, and, by requiring a study on eliminating patient cost sharing for these services.
House Bill 1112 – Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission – Study on Individual and Group Health Insurance Market Stability directs the Commission to examine the stability of Maryland’s individual and group insurance markets in light of potential federal policy changes. MedChi continues to play an important role in these discussions with two physician representatives serving on the Commission.
In addition, House Bill 1124 / Senate Bill 796 – Commercial Law – Consumer Protections – Health Care Financing has been withdrawn. MedChi opposed the bill due to the administrative burdens it would have placed on physicians offering third-party financing options for services not covered by insurance. The House sponsor has asked MedChi to work with her during the interim to explore a more workable approach.
Overall, these actions represent continued momentum in Annapolis toward improving insurance oversight, protecting patients, and ensuring that Maryland physicians can continue to deliver high-quality care.
Gene M. Ransom III
CEO
MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society
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