When the General Assembly reconvenes in Annapolis Wednesday for the start of the 2019 legislative session, their docket will include many topics that affect your health systems, your patients, and your communities.
MHA’s talented government affairs team — Nicole Stallings, Brian Frazee, Jennifer Witten, Neal Karkhanis, and Jane Krienke — has put in many hours over the interim with leaders from your organizations to identify issues that will affect Maryland’s health care community and to define a winning strategy.
Our top three aims this session are:
- Secure up to a $40-million reduction of the state’s $334-million Medicaid assessment in fiscal year 2020
- Limit unsustainable increases in medical malpractice awards by setting objective benchmarks and criteria used to develop life care plans
- Modernize the state’s Certificate of Need process to align with the parameters of the new Total Cost of Care Model.
We will also engage in multi-stakeholder issues including efforts to enact an individual mandate, enhance prescription drug affordability, improve maternal health care, and curb the opioid epidemic.
We’re producing tools and resources to help advance our shared goals. They include:
- MHA’s advocacy agenda
- In-person legislative session preview at MHA’s offices
- High-level infographics to explain at-a-glance the complex concepts behind our issues
- Report on quality and safety in Maryland’s hospitals
- A pocket-sized, printable card with five good things to know about Maryland’s hospitals
- A new website, Innovations for Better Health, which highlights innovation by the state’s hospitals and health care providers.
As always, MHA will report to members early and often throughout the 90-day session and will coordinate closely with your government affairs leads. We appreciate your partnership as we present a united front on behalf of Maryland’s health care community.