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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
SECOND REGULAR SESSION-2026
Legislative Document No. 2199
H.P. 1478 House of Representatives, February 10, 2026
An Act to Prohibit Interference with the Professional Judgment and
Clinical Decisions of Licensed Health Care Professionals as
Recommended by the Commission to Evaluate the Scope of
Regulatory Review and Oversight over Health Care Transactions
That Impact the Delivery of Health Care Services in the State
Reported by Representative MATHIESON of Kittery for the Joint Standing Committee on
Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services pursuant to Resolve 2025, chapter 106,
section 8.
Reference to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
suggested and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Page 1 - 132LR3025(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1730-B is enacted to read:
3§1730-B. Interference with professional judgment or clinical decision of licensed
4health care professional prohibited
51. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
6 following terms have the following meanings.
7 A. "Health care entity" means a health care provider, a health care facility or a provider
8 organization. "Health care entity" does not include a nursing facility as defined in
9 section 328, subsection 18.
10 B. "Health care facility" means a licensed institution providing health care services or
11 a health care setting, including, but not limited to, hospitals and other licensed inpatient
12 facilities; health systems consisting of one or more health care entities that are jointly
13 owned or managed; ambulatory surgical or treatment centers; residential treatment
14 centers; diagnostic, laboratory and imaging centers; freestanding emergency facilities;
15 outpatient clinics; and rehabilitation and other therapeutic health settings.
16 C. "Health care provider" means a person, corporation, partnership, governmental unit,
17 state institution, medical practice or other entity qualified or licensed under state law
18 to perform or provide health care services to persons in the State.
19 D. "Provider organization" means any corporation, partnership, business trust,
20 association or organized group of persons that is in the business of health care delivery
21 or management, whether incorporated or not, that represents one or more health care
22 providers in contracting with carriers for the payment of health care services. "Provider
23 organization" includes, but is not limited to, physician organizations, physician-
24 hospital organizations, independent practice associations, health care provider
25 networks, accountable care organizations and management services organizations and
26 any other organization that contracts with carriers for payment for health care services.
272. Interference with professional judgment or clinical decision of licensed health
28care professional prohibited. A person may not directly or indirectly interfere with,
29 control or otherwise direct the professional judgment or clinical decision of a licensed
30 health care professional with independent practice authority who provides health care
31 services at or through a health care entity. Conduct prohibited under this subsection
32 includes, but is not limited to, controlling, either directly or indirectly, through discipline,
33 punishment, threats, adverse employment actions, coercion, retaliation or excessive
34 pressure, any of the following:
35 A. The amount of time spent with a patient or the number of patients seen in a given
36 time period, including, but not limited to, the time permitted to triage patients in the
37 emergency department or evaluate admitted patients;
38 B. The time period within which a patient must be discharged;
39 C. Decisions involving a patient's clinical status, including, but not limited to, whether
40 a patient should be kept in observation status, whether a patient should receive
41 palliative care and where a patient should be placed upon discharge;
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1 D. The diagnosis, diagnostic terminology or billing codes that are entered into a
2 patient's medical record;
3 E. Decisions involving the appropriate diagnostic test for medical conditions; or
4 F. The exercise of professional judgment or other clinical decision making by a
5 licensed health care professional with independent practice authority that the
6 department determines is intended to interfere with, control or direct that licensed
7 health care professional's professional judgment or clinical decisions.
8SUMMARY
9 This bill is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Health Coverage,
10 Insurance and Financial Services pursuant to Resolve 2025, chapter 106 to implement a
11 recommendation from the Commission to Evaluate the Scope of Regulatory Review and
12 Oversight over Health Care Transactions That Impact the Delivery of Health Care Services
13 in the State. The joint standing committee has not taken a position on the substance of this
14 bill. By reporting this bill out, the joint standing committee is not suggesting and does not
15 intend to suggest that it agrees or disagrees with any aspect of this bill; instead, the joint
16 standing committee is reporting the bill out for the sole purpose of having a bill printed that
17 can be referred to a joint standing committee for an appropriate public hearing and
18 subsequent processing in the normal course. The joint standing committee is taking this
19 action to ensure clarity and transparency in the legislative review of the proposals contained
20 in the bill.
21 This bill prohibits any person from interfering with the professional judgment or
22 clinical decision of a licensed health care professional with independent practice authority.
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