HGO committee approves slate of health bills; key debates on nursing licensure, school health workforce and telehealth

An array of health and government measures advanced out of the Maryland House Health and Government Operations Committee on Feb. 21, 2025, with members approving numerous bills — many with amendments — and spending the most time on changes to licensure for health professionals, a statewide school health workforce assessment and the permanence of telehealth rules.

The committee approved changes to English proficiency requirements for health occupations boards, voted to require a joint Maryland Department of Health and Maryland State Department of Education assessment of school health and wellness personnel, and made permanent several telehealth provisions including payment parity for audio-only services. Lawmakers also moved amendments on insurance referrals to nonparticipating behavioral health providers and several other departmental and administrative bills.

Why it matters: The measures touch licensing standards and workforce pipelines amid a shortage of clinicians, codify telehealth access and payment rules that affect behavioral health care delivery, and require new data collection that could inform future state workforce and funding decisions.

Licensing and English proficiency (House Bill 367) House Bill 367, sponsored by Delegate Martinez, prevents a health occupations board from requiring additional evidence of English proficiency when an applicant already holds a valid, unrestricted license, certification or registration from another state that required such evidence. A subcommittee amendment removed a requirement that boards maintain a list of other states' tests on their websites and instead requires a prominent website statement that applicants who can show prior, qualifying evidence need not repeat the process.

Delegate Martinez summarized the intent: "English is English," she said, arguing the change avoids duplicative testing and helps bring more professionals into the state amid a workforce shortage. Members pressed for data about how many other states still require standalone English-proficiency tests and for details on what those tests entail. Committee members were told an analysis would likely cost about $50,000 to produce, and members asked staff and the sponsoring delegate to obtain the requested state-by-state information before the bill reaches the full House.

The committee adopted the amendment and moved the bill out of committee. The…