Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Maryland General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the chaptered version. The official bill page.
WES MOORE, Governor Ch. 657
Chapter 657
(House Bill 882)
AN ACT concerning
Consumer Health Information – Termination Date and Mandatory Funding for
the State’s Consumer Health Information Hub – Repeal
FOR the purpose of repealing the requirement that the Governor include in the annual
budget bill a certain appropriation to the State’s Consumer Health Information Hub;
requiring the Hub to carry out certain duties to the extent funding is available;
repealing the termination date for certain provisions of law related to consumer
health information and the State’s Consumer Health Information Hub; and
generally relating to consumer health information.
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments,
Article – Health – General
Section 20–2203
Annotated Code of Maryland
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement)
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
Article – Health – General
Section 20–2204
Annotated Code of Maryland
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement)
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,
Chapter 679 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 2022
Section 2
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND,
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
Article – Health – General
20–2203.
State and local agencies shall use plain language in public communications about
health, health insurance, safety, and social services benefits.
20–2204.
(a) The University of Maryland Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy
is designated as the State’s Consumer Health Information Hub.
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Ch. 657 2026 LAWS OF MARYLAND
(b) The purpose of the Hub is to promote and ensure public access to accurate,
consistent, evidence–based, plain–language information in preferred languages to inform
decisions about health, safety, and social services benefits.
(c) [The] TO THE EXTENT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE, THE Hub shall:
(1) Protect and promote public health by engaging with State and local
government agencies, health systems, nonprofit and community–based organizations, and
other entities to carry out the Hub’s purpose and duties under this subtitle;
(2) Establish and promote health literacy criteria, certifications, and best
practices that advance the effectiveness of the State’s health care system;
(3) Identify health literacy challenges and provide recommendations to
agencies and organizations on how to address the challenges, including by improving
programs and materials to provide the public with access to plain–language health, safety,
and social services benefits information;
(4) Monitor and report on the use of health literacy and plain–language
initiatives and support public reporting of vital public health information, including health
care quality reports from the Maryland Health Care Commission; and
(5) Support the identification and ongoing training of health literacy
officers in State and local agencies.
(d) [For fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Governor shall
include in the annual budget bill an appropriation of $350,000 to the Hub.
(e)] On or before July 1 each year, beginning in 2024, the Hub shall submit a
report to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Health [and Government
Operations] Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on
the implementation of this subtitle, including the status of statewide health literacy efforts
and materials provided.
Chapter 679 of the Acts of 2022
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July
1, 2022. [It shall remain effective for a period of 4 years and, at the end of June 30, 2026,
this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and
of no further force and effect.]
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June
1, 2026.
Approved by the Governor, May 26, 2026.
–2–Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.