Mid-Atlantic Health Law TOPICS

1.  On November 1, 2024, Governor Wes Moore signed the Advance Innovative and Equitable Health Care (AHEAD) agreement, the newest Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) model intended to improve quality of care, lower costs, and improve health equity through a focus on health-related social needs. Among other things, the AHEAD Model will allow the Health Services Cost Review Commission to continue to set hospital rates in Maryland, and build on Maryland’s success with its Total Cost of Care Model. Maryland is the first state to enter into the model with CMS.
 

2.  The Maryland Board of Pharmacy enacted regulations that govern a pharmacist’s ability to prescribe and dispense nicotine replacement therapy medication. During the 2022 Session, the Maryland Legislature passed a law that added prescribing and dispensing nicotine replacement therapy medication to a licensed pharmacist’s scope of practice. The Board of Pharmacy was required to enact regulations to establish standards for this new pharmacist authority. The regulations, adopted in October 2024, include a requirement for a pharmacist to complete a training program approved by the Board prior to prescribing and dispensing a nicotine replacement therapy medication, unless the pharmacist obtained such training as part of their formal education.  

Darci M. Smith
410-576-4153 • dsmith@gfrlaw.com