Signed by Governor Wes Moore

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends Maryland insurance code to adopt certain provisions of the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

Highlights:

• Requires each health insurance carrier to identify nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) by both (Sec. 1):

• Collecting and evaluating relevant data to assess the impact of each NQTL on relevant outcomes related to access to benefits; and

• Collecting and evaluating relevant data to assess the aggregate impact of all NQTLs on access to benefits.

• Authorizes penalties against a carrier when the relevant data indicates that an NQTL contributes to material differences in access to mental health/substance use disorder benefits compared to medical/surgical benefits (Sec. 1).

• Requires a carrier to submit reasonable actions it is or will take to address the differences in benefits to ensure compliance within 15 business days of a request from the Insurance Commissioner (Sec. 1).

• Requires the benefits provided for a customer’s mental health condition or substance use disorder to be compared to benefits provided for medical conditions or surgical procedures in each classification to determine meaningful benefits (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that this Act takes effect July 1, 2026 (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text