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*hb1483*
HOUSE BILL 1483
J2, J1 (6lr2176)
ENROLLED BILL
— Health/Finance —
Introduced by Delegates Kaiser, Guyton, and Kaufman Kaufman, Alston, Bagnall,
Cullison, Guzzone, Hill, Hutchinson, Kipke, Lopez, Martinez, M. Morgan,
Reilly, Rosenberg, Ross, Szeliga, Taveras, White Holland, and Woorman
Read and Examined by Proofreaders:
_______________________________________________
Proofreader.
_______________________________________________
Proofreader.
Sealed with the Great Seal and presented to the Governor, for his approval this
_______ day of _______________ at ________________________ o’clock, ________M.
______________________________________________
Speaker.
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Clinical Professional Counseling and Social Work – Out–of–State Providers – 2
Use of Telehealth for Continuity of Care 3
FOR the purpose of repealing the authority of the State Board of Professional Counselors 4
and Therapists to issue a temporary telehealth license; exempting certain State 5
licensure requirements for certain individuals who are licensed in another state and 6
who provide counseling or social work through telehealth to clients in the State; and 7
generally relating to clinical professional counseling or social work and telehealth. 8
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 9
Article – Health Occupations 10
Section 17–101(a) and 19–301(a), (c), and (d) 11
Annotated Code of Maryland 12
2 HOUSE BILL 1483
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 1
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 2
Article – Health Occupations 3
Section 17–101(l) and 17–301, 17–301, and 19–301(b) and 17–301 4
Annotated Code of Maryland 5
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 6
BY repealing 7
Article – Health Occupations 8
Section 17–101(cc) and 17–304.2 9
Annotated Code of Maryland 10
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 11
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 12
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 13
Article – Health Occupations 14
17–101. 15
(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. 16
(l) [(1)] “License” means, unless the context requires otherwise, a license issued 17
by the Board authorizing an individual to practice: 18
[(i)] (1) Clinical alcohol and drug counseling; 19
[(ii)] (2) Clinical marriage and family therapy; 20
[(iii)] (3) Clinical professional art therapy; 21
[(iv)] (4) Clinical professional counseling; 22
[(v)] (5) Graduate alcohol and drug counseling; 23
[(vi)] (6) Graduate marriage and family therapy; 24
[(vii)] (7) Graduate professional art therapy; or 25
[(viii)] (8) Graduate professional counseling. 26
[(2) “License” includes, unless the context requires otherwise, a temporary 27
telehealth license.] 28
HOUSE BILL 1483 3
[(cc) “Temporary telehealth license” means a license issued by the Board under § 1
17–304.2 of this title.] 2
17–301. 3
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this sectio n, an individual 4
may not practice, attempt to practice, or offer to practice clinical alcohol and drug 5
counseling, clinical marriage and family therapy, clinical professional art therapy, or 6
clinical professional counseling in the State unless licensed by the Board. 7
(b) Subject to the regulations of the Board, subsection (a) of this section does not 8
apply to: 9
(1) A student working under the supervision of a licensed mental health 10
care provider while pursuing a supervised course of study in counseling t hat the Board 11
approves as qualifying training and experience under this title; [or] 12
(2) An individual who, in accordance with § 17–406 of this title, is working 13
as a trainee under the supervision of a licensed clinical alcohol and drug counselor or 14
another health care provider licensed or certified under this article and approved by the 15
Board while fulfilling the experiential or course of study requirements under § 17 –302 of 16
this subtitle or § 17–403 or § 17–404 of this title; OR 17
(3) AN INDIVIDUAL WHO: 18
(I) IS LICENSED AND IN GOOD STANDING IN ANOTHER STATE; 19
(II) ESTABLISHED A CLIENT–COUNSELOR RELATIONSHIP WITH 20
A CLIENT OUTSIDE THE STATE; 21
(III) IS NO LONGER ABLE TO PROVIDE IN–PERSON COUNSELING 22
TO THE CLIENT BECAUSE THE CLIENT IS LOCATED IN THE STATE; AND 23
(IV) PROVIDES THE COUNSELI NG THROUGH TELEHEALT H, AS 24
DEFINED IN § 10–1001 § 1–1001 OF THIS ARTICLE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING 25
CONTINUITY OF CARE TO THE CLIENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 6 MONTHS AFTER: 26
1. THE CLIENT RELOCATED TO THE STATE; OR 27
2. THE CLIENT RETURNED TO THE STATE FOLLOWING A 28
CONTINUOUS AND NONINCIDENTAL PERIOD OF RELOCATION OUTSIDE THE STATE. 29
(c) This subtitle may not be construed to limit the scope of practice of any 30
individual who is duly licensed under this article. 31
4 HOUSE BILL 1483
[17–304.2. 1
(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 2
(2) “Institution of higher education” has the meaning stated in § 10–101 of 3
the Education Article. 4
(3) “Student” means an out–of–state resident enrolled at and residing at or 5
near an institution of higher education in the State. 6
(b) The Board may issue a temporary telehealth license to an applicant who: 7
(1) Is not licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to practice 8
clinical professional counseling in the State under this article; 9
(2) Is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide clinical 10
professional counseling or counseling services in another state; 11
(3) Is in good standing with the regulatory authority in the other state; 12
(4) Meets any other qualifications set by the Board in regulations; and 13
(5) Submits a temporary telehealth license application. 14
(c) A temporary telehealth license issued under this section authorizes the holder 15
to provide clinical professional counseling services through telehealth in the State only to 16
a student attending an institution of higher education in the State if the student and the 17
out–of–state licensed professional counselor have a previously established therapeutic 18
relationship that has existed for at least 6 months. 19
(d) The term of a temporary telehealth license issued under this section is 6 20
months. 21
(e) A temporary telehealth license issued under this section may not be renewed. 22
(f) If the holder of a temporary telehealth lice nse violates this title, the Board 23
may not issue the individual a regular license under this title for at least 2 years after the 24
date on which the violation occurred. 25
(g) The Board shall adopt regulations: 26
(1) To establish qualifications and applicat ion fees for a temporary 27
telehealth license issued under this section; 28
(2) To establish any conditions or limitations applicable to a temporary 29
telehealth licensee; and 30
HOUSE BILL 1483 5
(3) Necessary for the implementation, administration, and enforcement of 1
this section.] 2
19–301. 3
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, an individual shall be: 4
(1) Licensed by the Board before the individual may practice social work in 5
this State while representing oneself as a social worker; or 6
(2) Licensed as a certified social worker–clinical before the individual may 7
practice clinical social work in this State. 8
(b) This section does not apply to: 9
(1) Subject to subsection (d) of this section, an individual employed by any 10
agency of the federal government while performing the duties of that employment; 11
(2) An individual licensed as a social worker in another state while 12
responding to an emergency in this State; 13
(3) An individual who: 14
(i) Is licensed to practice social work in any other state; 15
(ii) Has an application for a license pending before the Board; and 16
(iii) Meets requirements established by the Board in regulations; [or] 17
(4) A student while pursuing a supervised course of study in a social work 18
program that is accredited or is a candidate for accreditation by the Council on Social Work 19
Education; OR 20
(5) A SOCIAL WORKER WHO IS LICENSED AND IN GOOD STANDING IN 21
ANOTHER STATE OR A STUDENT WHILE PURSUING A SUPERVISED COURSE OF STUDY 22
IN A GRADUATE LEVEL SOCIAL WORK PROGRAM IN ANOTHER STATE THAT IS 23
ACCREDITED OR IS A CANDIDATE FOR ACCREDITATION BY THE COUNCIL ON SOCIAL 24
WORK EDUCATION AND WHO: 25
(I) ESTABLISHED A CLIENT –SOCIAL WORKER RELATI ONSHIP 26
WITH A CLIENT OUTSIDE THE STATE; 27
(II) IS NO LONGER ABLE TO PROVIDE IN–PERSON SOCIAL WORK 28
SERVICES TO THE CLIENT BECAUSE THE CLIENT IS LOCATED IN THE STATE; AND 29
6 HOUSE BILL 1483
(III) PROVIDES SOCIAL WORK SERVICES THROUGH 1
TELEHEALTH, AS DEFINED IN § 1–1001 OF THIS ARTICLE , FOR THE PURPOSE OF 2
PROVIDING CONTINUITY OF CARE TO THE CLIEN T FOR NOT MORE THAN 6 MONTHS 3
AFTER: 4
1. THE CLIENT RELOCATED TO THE STATE; OR 5
2. THE CLIENT RETURNED TO THE STATE FOLLOWING A 6
CONTINUOUS AND NONINCIDENTAL PERIOD OF RELOCATION OUTSIDE THE STATE. 7
(c) An individual may not practice social work without a license under subsection 8
(b)(3) of this section for more than 6 months. 9
(d) An individual employed by an agency of the federal government who is 10
licensed to practice social work in the State shall comply with the provisions of this title. 11
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHE R ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 12
October 1, 2026. 13
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.