We are so thrilled to be back reporting in Maryland after a brief hiatus! In our first 2023 edition of \u201cWhat They\u2019re Watching\u201d in Maryland, we include some of Reporter James Sklar\u2019s reporting on the Maryland Legislature, which began meeting on Jan. 11th. We will continue to monitor key health-related legislation as it moves during the legislative session.<\/p>\n
This newsletter also features Sen. Augustine\u2019s input about Maryland\u2019s new Medicaid dental benefit, a conversation with the Maryland Hospital Association\u2019s Nicole Stallings about hospitals\u2019 biggest needs for 2023, and information about some local projects receiving funding from the recently signed federal omnibus spending bill.<\/p>\n
Thanks for reading, and please don\u2019t hesitate to reach out with story leads, or just to connect\u2014we\u2019re always happy to hear from you!<\/p>\n
Eli Kirshbaum \u00a0<\/p>\n The 2023 legislative session began on Jan. 11th and health committees have been\u00a0holding their first hearings<\/a>\u00a0of the session.\u00a0This year\u2019s health-related legislation<\/a>\u00a0includes\u00a0an effort to extend Maryland\u2019s Collaborative Care Pilot Program<\/a>, which was created in 2018 to better-coordinate care for individuals in need of behavioral health treatment.\u00a0Preliminary data from MDH<\/a>\u00a0shows that\u00a0the program<\/a>\u2014currently slated to end in June 2024\u2014has yielded positive results.<\/p>\n Another initiative we\u2019re watching aims to increase access to health insurance for employees of small businesses by creating a 60-day special enrollment period for new hires at smaller companies\u00a0that don\u2019t provide health benefits. Sen. Katie Hester and Del. Robbyn Lewis are\u00a0continuing their work<\/a>\u00a0to support the health needs of small business employees with the introduction of\u00a0SB 59<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0HB 107<\/a>, respectively. The bills allocate funding for an information campaign about the program to be promoted through Maryland\u2019s health insurance marketplace.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Following last year\u2019s passage of\u00a0SB 150<\/a>, Maryland Medicaid began covering dental services on Jan. 1st of. Bill sponsor Sen. Malcolm Augustine recently\u00a0spoke with State of Reform<\/a>\u00a0about how this expansion of services will benefit Marylanders who have told him about their challenges in receiving needed dental care.<\/p>\n He noted that Maryland was a sort of outlier state in the path to Medicaid coverage (42 other states have already implemented some form of dental coverage) with pushback on SB 150 having mainly come from those concerned about its financial impact. He nonetheless affirmed his belief that the\u00a0benefits<\/a>\u00a0outweigh the cost:\u00a0\u201cWhen I looked at the data, [it] showed us that this would save us money in the long run,\u201d he said. \u201cFor example, with improved dental care you are able to identify other problem areas for folks because you save money by getting care for them earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In\u00a0this edition of \u201cWhat They\u2019re Watching,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, Alan Weil, discusses the work to demonstrate the link between healthcare outcomes and race. Interviewed at last year\u2019s Maryland State of Reform conference, Weil talked about how finding evidence that race impacts health outcomes has proven more challenging than finding data to inform other areas of healthcare policy.<\/p>\n \u201cLike anything else in health or medicine, if you don\u2019t know the origins or the causes, it\u2019s very hard to come up with a solution. So we\u2019re learning about the ties and relationship between racism and health,\u201d he said.\u00a0He added that racism intersects with various other social determinants of health, including gender identity, disability, and sexual orientation, and thus these all need to be collectively considered when addressing health disparities.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Despite benefiting from the state\u2019s unique hospital financing model and increasing wages by 25% since the start of the pandemic, Maryland Hospital Association EVP and Chief External Affairs Officer Nicole Stallings says hospitals remain in an \u201cunsustainable\u201d state heading into 2023. With record-high inflation and labor costs, Stallings recently\u00a0spoke with State of Reform<\/a>\u00a0about hospitals\u2019 outstanding needs as MHA turns its attention to Maryland\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n Looking back on 2022, Stallings said some of MHA\u2019s legislative successes are the\u00a0establishment of a commission<\/a>\u00a0to study the workforce crisis, the\u00a0creation of a public awareness campaign<\/a>\u00a0to prevent workplace violence, and the continuation of the\u00a0ability to fast-track physician licensing<\/a>\u00a0in certain states. For this year\u2019s session, she says MHA \u201cwill advocate for legislation to strengthen our hospital workforce and improve access to care. That includes legislation to invest in the health workforce and faculty pipeline, maintain telehealth flexibilities, reform the Maryland Board of Nursing, and improve the behavioral health system of care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to guaranteeing a year of continuous for Medicaid-enrolled children and providing clarity about Medicaid redeterminations,\u00a0the federal omnibus spending bill<\/a>\u00a0that President Biden signed into law last month allocates $2,218,969 for healthcare-related projects in Western Maryland. This includes funding to provide much-needed modernization to healthcare equipment for several facilties in the region.<\/p>\n
State of Reform<\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/stateofreform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Mail-Chimp-Blue-Header-3.png\")
<\/p>\n1. First health bills taken up in Maryland Legislature<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n2. New Medicaid dental services benefit takes effect<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n3. What They\u2019re Watching: Alan Weil, Health Affairs<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stateofreform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/alan-1-640x339.jpg)
<\/p>\n4. Q&A: MHA\u2019s Nicole Stallings discusses hospital needs in 2023<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n5. Federal omnibus bill funds health facility modernization in Western Maryland<\/span><\/h2>\n