[MD] HB280: Health Insurance - Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders - Codification of Federal Requirements
Impact on your practice
Maryland therapists gain stronger state-level parity protections by embedding federal requirements into state insurance code. This creates dual enforcement pathways (state and federal) and may improve prior authorization consistency and coverage denials for mental health services.
Key facts
Maryland codifies federal mental health parity requirements into state law
Ensures state insurance regulations align with federal MHPAEA standards
Companion bill to SB205 with identical purpose
Provides state-level enforcement mechanism for parity violations
States affected
Original source
https://legiscan.com/MD/bill/HB280/2026Policy changes drive denial patterns
Therapy Companion tracks both: the policy shifts on this page and the denial patterns hitting your claims.
Related policy changes
New York failed to ensure Medicaid insurers followed mental health parity rules: OIG
This audit provides concrete evidence of parity violations in a major state Medicaid program and creates enforcement leverage for therapists and advocates. Expect increased scrutiny of prior authorization practices nationally and potential regulatory action requiring MCOs to align mental health and medical denial rates.
[WA] HB1432: Improving access to appropriate mental health and substance use disorder services.
WA's HB1432 is now law and will take effect mid-2025. Therapists should review the full text to understand new access requirements, which may affect prior authorization processes, network participation, or documentation standards.
[OK] HB2049: Medicaid parity; coverage; mental health and substance use disorders; contract compliance; noncompliance reviews; Oklahoma Health Care Authority; complaints; publication of reports; effective date.
Oklahoma therapists treating Medicaid patients now have explicit parity enforcement mechanisms and public accountability for MCO compliance. This should reduce discriminatory prior authorization practices and coverage denials for behavioral health in Medicaid.
[AK] SB45: Medicaid Mental Health Parity
Alaska's SB45 would strengthen Medicaid mental health parity enforcement at the state level, directly affecting reimbursement equity and prior authorization practices for therapists serving Medicaid clients. This is a critical enforcement mechanism that could reduce denials and improve payment parity for behavioral health services.