9 More New Maryland Laws You Need To Know For 2018

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Every year, the Maryland legislature adopts hundreds of new laws, most of which take effect in October. But there are a few — some of them were passed in the fall, others are finally coming into effect after several years — that kick in on Monday, Jan. 1. They range from requiring residents to replace any outdated home smoke alarms with a 10-year sealed alarm to a law that expands and protects access to birth control by mandating that insurers provide most forms of contraception, including vasectomies, with no out-of-pocket costs to patients.

Insurers must also pay for over-the-counter birth control, including the morning-after pill. Women will be able to obtain birth control pills and other contraception in six-month doses, rather than on a monthly basis, The Baltimore Sun reports. Implants and intrauterine devices will no longer require pre-authorization by insurance companies.

The bill was adopted in 2016, but designed not to take effect until 2018 so insurers had time to prepare.

Most Maryland new laws kicked in Oct. 1, see a link to that list below.

SEE ALSO:

New Maryland Laws Take Effect October 1, 2017

New Maryland Safety Law Takes Effect January 1 2018

And eight more laws that take effect on Jan. 1 range from requiring insurance carriers to regularly assess their risks to requiring insurance plans to pay the cost of diabetes test strips without a copay, and imposing new safeguards on personal data handled by Maryland employers. The laws are:

Insurance – Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment Act
Requiring specified carriers to maintain a risk management framework for specified purposes; requiring specified carriers or specified insurance groups to conduct an own risk and solvency assessment regularly or at any time when there are significant changes to the carrier’s or insurance group’s risk profile; requiring specified carriers to submit to the Maryland Insurance Commissioner a specified report or reports on request or if the Commissioner is the lead state commissioner of a specified insurance group; etc. HB 127

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene – Board of Review – Repeal
Repealing provisions of law relating to the Board of Review of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; repealing provisions of law that require the Board of Review to make specified recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, advise the Secretary on specified matters, hear and determine specified appeals, and report at specified intervals to the Secretary; providing that a specified petitioner may not be charged a fee for specified costs under specified circumstances; etc. HB 136

Insurance – Public Adjusters
Altering specified provisions concerning the licensing and practice of public adjusters; adding and altering specified definitions relating to public adjusters; providing an exception to licensing for specified marketing activities; repealing the requirement that public adjuster license application forms include specified employment disclosures; repealing the requirement for specified experience before taking a specified written examination; applying the Act to all public adjuster licenses issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2018; etc. HB 730

Health Insurance – Coverage for Diabetes Test Strips – Prohibition on Deductible, Copayment, and Coinsurance
Prohibiting, except under specified circumstances, specified insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations from imposing a deductible, copayment, or coinsurance requirement on diabetes test strips; applying the Act to all policies, contracts, and health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on or after January 1, 2018; etc. SB 910

Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund – Operations
Repealing a provision of law subjecting the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund to the imposition of a specified premium tax; altering the scope of provisions of law governing prior approval rate making to exclude the Fund; providing that provisions of law governing competitive rating rate making apply to the Fund under specified circumstances; repealing a provision of law that makes the Fund subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act; etc. HB 974

Maryland Personal Information Protection Act – Revisions
Requiring a specified business, when destroying an employee’s or a former employee’s records containing specified personal information of the employee or former employee, to take specified steps to protect against unauthorized access to or use of the information; altering the circumstances under which a specified business must conduct an investigation and notify specified persons of a specified breach; authorizing a specified business to provide a specified required notice in a specified manner under specified circumstances; etc. HB 592

Real Property Tax – Assessment Appeals Process – Dwellings
Requiring a hearing on an appeal to a supervisor of assessments concerning the value or classification of a specified dwelling to occur no later than 120 days after the Department of Assessments and Taxation receives the appeal, unless the property owner requests a postponement; requiring the supervisor to give written notice of the final value or classification of a specified dwelling to the person who has appealed or filed a petition for review within 60 days after the hearing; etc. HB 1329

Heroin and Opioid Prevention Effort (HOPE) and Treatment Act of 2017
Requiring the State Court Administrator of the Administrative Office of the Courts to assess specified drug court programs to make specified determinations; stating the intent of the General Assembly that the Administrative Office request an appropriation of $2,000,000 in additional funding for grants to expand the scope of drug court programs; requiring the Behavioral Health Administration to establish at least one crisis treatment center by June 1, 2018; authorizing the Overdose Response Program; etc.

See the full list of new laws from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services.

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Photo of Maryland State House by Patch Editor Emily Leayman