During the General Assembly’s 445th legislative session, which kicked off January 11, lawmakers will consider serious issues that affect your health systems, your patients, and your communities.

MHA and your hospital leaders also have been key to incoming Gov. Wes Moore’s transition planning on health care policy, and we look forward to building on that strong foundation after he is sworn in on January 18.

MHA’s talented government affairs team and leaders from your organizations identified our three aims and a winning strategy to advance field priorities over the next 90 days.

For a Better Maryland, we’ll advocate to:

• Strengthen Maryland’s hospital workforce
• Ensure access to care
• Improve Maryland’s medical liability environment

The session is just 90 days, but MHA advocates on your behalf year-round. In the interim, we educated legislators—including those newly elected—to ensure they understand our state’s health care system, its strengths, and our pain points.

To support you, we’re producing tools and resources to guide legislators. They include:

• MHA’s advocacy web page, which will be updated with testimony and tools throughout the next 90 days
• MHA Advocacy Toolkit
• Resources on key priorities, like telehealth
• A pocket-sized, printable card with five good things to know about Maryland’s hospitals
• Global Budget FAQ
• Tools to help explain Maryland’s Total Cost of Care Model and its significance (here, here, and here)

As always, MHA will update members early and often and will coordinate closely with your government affairs leads and share opportunities to engage your grassroots allies.

We appreciate your partnership as we present a united front on behalf of Maryland’s hospitals and health systems.


Bob Atlas
President & CEO