MHPAEA Regulation Public Meeting, July 21, 2026

The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) will be holding a virtual, open meeting to solicit public comment with respect to the implementation of recent amendments to the Maryland mental health and substance use disorder parity law. Insurance Article, Maryland Annotated Code, § 15-144 was amended by Maryland Senate Bill 205, effective July 1, 2026. Senate Bill 205 revised existing definitions and added new definitions and operational and reporting requirements to § 15-144 that apply to insurance carriers in the individual, small, and large group markets. After considering the comments and other feedback from interested parties, the MIA expects to publish proposed regulations.

Questions to be discussed during the public meeting include the following:

Whether and how the proposed regulations should define “relevant data” and “relevant outcomes”? What types of data should be collected and evaluated with regard to network composition?
Whether and how the proposed regulations should define “material differences” in access? How could the material difference standard be defined so that it could be translated into statistical analysis? What are useful metrics to determine parity of access? Should the proposed regulations include exceptions that would not be considered material?
Whether and how the proposed regulations should define “bias” and “objective in a manner that discriminates”?
Whether and how proposed regulations should define, clarify, and measure “meaningful benefits”? How should the proposed regulations implement the core treatment requirement? How should the proposed regulations define “standard treatment or course of treatment,” “therapy,” “service,” and “intervention”?

MIA – MHPAEA Regulation Public Meeting
Tuesday, July 21, 2026, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
This meeting is virtual through the Zoom platform.

ZoomGov LInk: https://maryland-insurance.zoomgov.com/j/1653069091
Dial-In: (646) 828-7666
Webinar ID: 165 306 9091

If you would like to present or offer public comments during the virtual public hearing, please notify the MIA in advance of the meeting by submitting your request to [email protected]. Because of the nature of the ZOOM Events platform, a special invitation is required to be seen and/or be heard via the platform. For that reason, the MIA can only assure the opportunity to speak during the virtual public hearing to those interested parties who have signed up by Friday, July 17, 2026, and provided an e-mail address to which an invitational link to the virtual meeting can be sent.

A public access link that allows individuals to view the virtual public hearing will be posted on the MIA’s website. To the extent that time and technology permit, the MIA will hear from unregistered participants who access the Zoom Event platform.