The health department of Md. to conduct needed studies on dental coverage, obesity treatments and more – Maryland Matters

Staff at the Maryland Department of Health and related agencies said at a recent meeting of the Maryland Medicaid Advisory Committee that they will have a busy interim period as they work to conduct more than a dozen new reports and studies prompted by the bills that came out of the 2024 legislative session.

Many of those bills that ended up passing had many reports as major components, Chris Coats, health policy analyst for the Maryland Department of Health, said Thursday. So there will be a lot of follow-up after the session, during the interim this year and as we prepare for next year.

Legislation requiring state agencies to conduct studies can be used to inform lawmakers about future bill topics, measure the effectiveness of current programs, and see where improvements can be made to help the state meet certain goals .

For example, legislation in the 2023 legislative session prompted the health department to project how much it would cost the state to provide state-funded health coverage to Maryland’s undocumented population, resulting in some projections as high as 1,000 million dollars over a five-year period. for the state

Although the Maryland General Assembly did not act on these particular findings this session with legislation to provide health coverage to undocumented immigrants, lawmakers could refer to the study’s results to consider future legislation.

For the 2024 session, several of the studies prompted the Health Department to investigate the possibility of expanding health care coverage for people with Medicaid, the joint state-federal program that provides a health care plan to low income households. Many of the bills still need the signature of Gov. Wes Moore (D) before they become law.

Alyssa L. Brown, director of the health department’s Office of Innovation, Research and Development, said the department has 13 new reports and studies to conduct, many of which must be completed before the end of of year

So this is going to be a busy offseason for the Medicaid program, even though we have fewer new benefits to implement this year than the last two years, he said.

Here’s a highlight of some of the new reporting requirements and studies that may inform future legislation in the coming sessions.

House Bill 103, sponsored by Del. Heather Bagnall (D-Anne Arundel), requires the department to consider the feasibility of offering reimbursement to health care providers for providing full or partial prosthetic work, so that more health care plans have more incentive to cover the prostheses

HB 103 will also study reimbursement costs for home dental services and find an appropriate reimbursement rate by referring to average commercial rates. The Senate version, SB 600, was sponsored by Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Montgomery) and is also awaiting Moore’s consideration.

It’s one of several reports coming later this year, Brown told the Medicaid Advisory Committee. The legislation requires the Department of Health to provide its findings to the Senate Finance and House Health and Government Operations Committees by Dec. 1.

HB 822 and SB 790 deal with a Medicaid program called the Employed Individuals with Disabilities, or the EID program. Marylands EID program allows disabled workers to continue receiving Medicaid health coverage even if their income would normally make them ineligible for Medicaid.

Currently, people 65 and older cannot participate in the EID program, but part of HB 822 calls for the department to study the potential fiscal and operational impact of implementing an EID program that could cover people aged 65 and over.

The House version is sponsored by Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery) and the Senate bill is sponsored by Sen. Katherine Klausmeier (D-Baltimore) and Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles). That bill also has a December deadline to report findings to Senate and House committees.

Some bills requiring the department to conduct studies were originally drafted with different ambitions.

SB 594, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore), initially would have required the state to provide comprehensive coverage for obesity treatment under Medicaid, which could have included behavioral therapy, weight-loss surgery. and FDA-approved medications for chronic weight control in obese adults.

But the Senate Finance Committee amended the bill to make it a study. The House version, sponsored by Del. Robbyn Lewis (D-Baltimore City), also amended to make it a study, instead of mandating Medicaid coverage for obesity treatments.

HB 865, known as the So Every Body Can Move Act, requires Medicaid to cover prosthetics and other artificial body parts. However, the bill initially would have required broader Medicaid coverage to include what are called orthotics.

From. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince Georges) sponsored the House bill while Sen. Pamela Beidle (D-Anne Arundel) sponsored the Senate cross-file, SB 614.

Orthotics refer to external medical devices, such as braces and splints, used to support weak muscles or bones.

But the legislation was amended to create a study that would determine the cost impact of requiring Medicaid coverage and commercial health insurance plans for orthotics. This would be a joint report from the Department of Health and the Maryland Health Care Commission, which will be presented to Maryland lawmakers by December 1st.

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