Maryland Medical Assistance Program and Developmental Disabilities Administration - Home- and Community-Based Services Eligibility Determinations (Maryland Protecting People With Disabilities Act)
SB0742, the Maryland Protecting People With Disabilities Act, changes how the Maryland Department of Health and the Developmental Disabilities Administration handle eligibility determinations and redeterminations for Medicaid and home- and community-based services. The bill requires the Department to follow federal timeliness standards for processing applications and renewals, use ex parte redeterminations when possible, and provide accessible information about eligibility, services, and recipient rights in plain language, electronic and paper formats, and with language access and disability accommodations.
The bill also strengthens due-process protections for people receiving home- and community-based services. It limits procedural disenrollment based solely on missing paperwork, missing signatures, or incomplete information unless the Department has exhausted required verification steps, given clear notice, and provided a reasonable opportunity to respond. If the Department fails to redetermine eligibility on time and the delay is not the recipient’s fault, the bill requires reinstatement of eligibility and retroactive coverage, and it prohibits requiring a new waiver application or placing the person on a waiting list in those circumstances. It also directs the Department, subject to federal approval, to reserve some waiver capacity for people with developmental disabilities who lost services after January 1, 2024 and later regain eligibility, and it adds reporting requirements on renewals, terminations, procedural terminations, reinstatements, and processing times.
The bill amends Health-General Article §§ 7-309 and 15-103.9 and creates new statutory requirements for Medicaid eligibility administration and home- and community-based services. It expands notice, accessibility, and continuity-of-care obligations for the Department of Health, while also requiring quarterly reporting to the General Assembly for three years beginning in 2027. The measure is intended to reduce service interruptions, prevent improper disenrollment, and improve transparency around eligibility processing for Medicaid recipients, especially individuals with developmental disabilities.
The bill appears to have been strongly supported and largely noncontroversial in the legislature. It passed the Senate and House with overwhelming margins, including unanimous or near-unanimous votes, and was ultimately signed into law. The framing in the bill’s preamble emphasizes disability rights, community integration, and preventing harm from administrative delays, suggesting broad bipartisan agreement with its goals.
No committee testimony or recorded debate is provided, and the vote history shows little visible opposition. The main policy issues implicit in the bill are administrative burden versus beneficiary protections: the Department must do more to verify eligibility, provide accessible notices, and preserve coverage, while also managing waiver capacity and reporting obligations. Any potential contention would likely center on implementation costs, federal approval for reserving waiver slots, and the operational impact of stricter limits on procedural disenrollment, but the available record does not show organized opposition.