The WISE Healthcare Huddle priorities for the 2018 Maryland General Legislative Session are: protecting retention of healthcare for those with pre-existing conditions, creating more affordable access to quality healthcare, prescription drug and healthcare insurance regulations/oversight, and policies that affect working families and children’s access to affordable quality healthcare. WISE Healthcare Huddle is focusing on the legislation listed below.

HB1194 (cross filed with SB1023)

Entitled: Health – Drug Cost Review Commission

Sponsored by: Delegate Pena Melnyk in the House

Sponsored by: Senator Conway in the Senate

Status: In the House Hearing 3/06 at 1:00pm

Status: In the Senate

Establishing the Drug Cost Review Commission; providing for the purpose of the Commission; providing for the membership of the Commission; requiring certain conflicts of interest to be disclosed and considered when appointing members to the Commission; specifying the terms of the initial members of the Commission; providing for the election of the chair of the Commission and requiring the chair to hire certain staff; requiring that the staff of the Commission receive a certain salary; etc.

Current Co-sponsors: Delegates Pena-Melnyk, Ali, Anderson, Atterbeary, B. Barnes, D. Barnes, Barron, Barve, Beidle, Branch, Brooks, Carey, Carr, Chang, Clippinger, Conaway, Cullison, Davis, Dumais, Ebersole, Fennell, Fraser-Hidalgo, Frush, Gaines, Gibson, Gilchrist, Glenn, Gutierrez, Hayes, Haynes, Healey, Hettleman, Hill, Hixson, C. Howard, Impallaria, Jackson, Jalisi, Jones, Kaiser, Kelly, Kramer, Lafferty, Lam, J. Lewis, R. Lewis, Lierman, Luedtke, McDonough, McIntosh, A. Miller, Moon, Morales, Morhaim, Mosby, Patterson, Platt, Proctor, Queen, Reznik, Robinson, Rosenberg, Sample-Hughes, Sanchez, Stein, Sydnor, Tarlau, Turner, Valderrama, Valentino-Smith, Vallario, Waldstreicher, Walker, A. Washington, M. Washington, Wilkins, Wilson, K. Young, and P. Young

Current Co-sponsors: Senators Conway, Benson, Currie, Ferguson, Guzzone, Kelley,

Klausmeier, Lee,  Madaleno, Mathias, McFadden, Nathan-ulliam, Oaks,

Peters, Robinson, Rosapepe, Smith, Young, and Zucker

HB1290 (crossfiled with SB1074)

Entitled: Health Insurance and Pharmacy Benefits Managers – Reimbursement for and Provision of Pharmacy Services

Sponsored by: Delegate Sample-Hughes in the House

Sponsored by: Senator Mathias in the Senate

Status: In the House – Hearing 3/08 at 1:00 p.m.

Status: In the Senate – Rereferred to Finance

Authorizing a pharmacist or a pharmacy to decline to dispense a prescription drug or provide a pharmacy service to a member if the amount reimbursed by an insurer, a nonprofit health service plan, or a health maintenance organization is less than the acquisition cost; prohibiting a pharmacy benefits manager from reimbursing a pharmacy or pharmacist for a product or a pharmacy service in an amount less than the amount the pharmacy benefits manager reimburses itself for the same product or pharmacy service; applying the Act; etc.

Current Co-Sponsors: Delegates Sample-Hughes, Kipke, Barron, Anderton, Bromwell,

Carozza, Ghrist, Jacobs, Mautz, Otto, Pena-Melnyk, and K. Young

Current Co-Sponsors: Senator Mathias

2017 HB0001 -Labor and Employment – Maryland Healthy Working Families Act Requiring employers with 15 or more employees to provide employees with earned sick and safe leave that is paid at the same wage rate as the employee normally earns; requiring employers with 14 or fewer employees to provide unpaid earned sick and safe leave; prohibiting an employer from being required to pay a tipped employee more than a minimum wage for earned sick and safe leave; requiring the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to develop a specified model paid sick and safe leave policy for use by specified employers; etc.            Cross-filed with: SB0230
Introduced in a prior session as: HB0580 Session: 2016 Regular Session
Bill File Type: Pre-Filed
Effective Date(s): January 1, 2018

UPDATE: Efforts to delay implementation of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act are not successful. Law went into effect Feb. 11, 2018. WISE will continue to track upcoming legislative efforts that may effect this new protection.