After making great strides through the spring in our fight against COVID-19, Maryland’s positive cases and hospitalizations sadly now are moving in the wrong direction.

Last week marked four months since Maryland’s first case of community transmission of COVID-19. In that time, our professional and personal lives have been upended by the novel coronavirus. That now looms over our 2021 legislative session.

Last week the number of people hospitalized in Maryland with COVID-19 fell below 400 for the first time since March. We expect some fluctuation, yet over the last two months, trends in our state are positive—fewer hospitalizations, less death, and a lower rate of positive tests.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) can require hospitals nationwide to publicly share charges they negotiate with payers, a federal court ruled Tuesday. The field has prepared for this rule since last year, yet we’d hoped this burdensome mandate would be scrapped through a challenge from health care groups, including the American Hospital Association.