Maryland Health Care Commission - Membership

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*hb0322*

HOUSE BILL 322
J3 6lr1997
CF SB 260
By: Delegate Kerr Delegates Kerr, Alston, Bagnall, Cullison, Guzzone,
Hutchinson, S. Johnson, Kaufman, Kipke, Lopez, Martinez, M. Morgan,
Reilly, Rosenberg, Ross, Szeliga, Taveras, White Holland, and Woorman
Introduced and read first time: January 16, 2026
Assigned to: Health
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
House action: Adopted
Read second time: February 18, 2026

CHAPTER ______

AN ACT concerning 1

Maryland Health Care Commission – Membership 2

FOR the purpose of altering the membership of the Maryland Health Care Commission by 3
reducing the number of members who are individuals who do not have any 4
connection with the management or policy of a health care provider or payor and 5
including a representative an administrator of a hospital; altering the number of 6
Commission members who must be residents of different counties with a certain 7
minimum population; and generally relating to the membership of the Maryland 8
Health Care Commission. 9

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 10
Article – Health – General 11
Section 19–101 12
Annotated Code of Maryland 13
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 14

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 15
Article – Health – General 16
Section 19–104 17
Annotated Code of Maryland 18
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 19

2 HOUSE BILL 322

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 1
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 2

Article – Health – General 3

19–101. 4

In this subtitle, “Commission” means the Maryland Health Care Commission. 5

19–104. 6

(a) (1) The Commission shall consist of 15 members appointed by the Governor 7
with the advice and consent of the Senate. 8

(2) Of the 15 members: 9

(i) [Nine] EIGHT shall be individuals who do not have any 10
connection with the management or policy of a health care provider or payor; and 11

(ii) Of the remaining [six] SEVEN members: 12

1. Two shall be physicians; 13

2. Two shall be payors, as defined in § 19–132 of this subtitle; 14

3. ONE SHALL BE A REPRESENTATIVE AN 15
ADMINISTRATOR OF A HOSPITAL, AS DEFINED IN § 19–301 OF THIS TITLE; 16

4. One shall be a nursing home administrator in the State; 17
and 18

[4.] 5. One shall be a nonphysician health care practitioner. 19

(b) (1) The term of a member is 4 years. 20

(2) The terms of members are staggered as required by the terms provided 21
for members of the Commission on October 1, 1999. 22

(3) At the end of a term, a member continues to serve until a successor is 23
appointed and qualifies. 24

(4) A member who is appointed after a term has begun serves only for the 25
rest of the term and until a successor is appointed and qualifies. 26

(5) The Governor may remove a member for neglect of duty, incompetence, 27
or misconduct. 28
HOUSE BILL 322 3

(6) A member may not serve more than two consecutive terms. 1

(c) When appointing members to the Commission, the Governor shall: 2

(1) Assure that: 3

(i) At least [five] FOUR members are residents of different counties 4
with a population of 300,000 or more; and 5

(ii) At least three members are residents of different counties with a 6
population of less than 300,000, of which at least: 7

1. One shall be a resident of the Eastern Shore; 8

2. One shall be a resident of Allegany County, Garrett 9
County, Washington County, Carroll County, or Frederick County; and 10

3. One shall be a resident of Southern Maryland; and 11

(2) To the extent practicable, assure geographic balance and promote 12
racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the Commission’s membership. 13

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 14
October 1, 2026. 15

Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.