ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Gov. Larry Hogan has signed legislation to stabilize health insurance rates in the Maryland Health Care Exchange's troubled individual market.
The bill Hogan signed Tuesday taps about $380 million that health insurance companies no longer have to pay in federal taxes due to changes in the federal tax code to help prevent rising premiums for about 150,000 people. A separate bill the governor already has signed creates a long-term plan to preserve the exchange through a reinsurance initiative.
Officials feared the state's individual health insurance markets could collapse without action.
The Republican governor also signed a bill to create statewide standards for school safety. It requires each school system in Maryland to develop assessment teams to identify students whose behavior could pose a threat.
Women's Rights
Lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly have passed several bills related to women's rights in this session.
Lawmakers say the MeToo movement helped to get some of these bills approved. Some of them have been in the works for years.
One bill strengthens how the statehouse handles sexual harassment complaints against lawmakers, and it extends the policy to lobbyists. Another bill that was a decade in the making creates a process for impregnated rape victims to ask to end the parental rights of their attackers. Others address limited access to feminine hygiene products for incarcerated women and policies on the medical care they receive while they're pregnant.
Women's Caucus president Del. Ariana Kelly says these bills aimed to support women from all parts of the state and all backgrounds.
