HB 1069 Maryland House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Life and Health Insurance Policies and Annuity and Health Maintenance Organization Contracts - Discretionary Clauses - Prohibition

HB 1069 prohibits Maryland insurers from including clauses that grant them sole discretion to interpret policy terms in health insurance, life insurance, and annuity contracts. It applies to all insurers, nonprofit health plans, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) selling policies in Maryland. The law amends state insurance regulations to ban such clauses, requiring interpretations to align with Maryland law rather than insurer preferences. The prohibition applies to policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Sub-Topics: Insurance

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Feb 5, 2025 Signed May 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Life and Health Insurance Policies and Annuity Contracts - Discretionary Clauses - Prohibition → Third - Life and Health Insurance Policies and Annuity and Health Maintenance Organization Contracts - Discretionary Clauses - Prohibition · 3 edits

MINOR

HB 1069 was amended to expand its scope from covering only life, health, and annuity contracts to also include Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) contracts. The bill now prohibits insurers from using discretionary clauses that allow them sole discretion to interpret policy terms in HMO contracts, aligning them with the existing protections for other insurance products. This change ensures HMO policyholders receive the same consumer protections against unfair interpretation practices as other policyholders.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) contracts in addition to life, health, and annuity contracts.

SCOPE

Added HMO contracts to the list of insurance products covered by the discretionary clause prohibition.

REQUIREMENT

Updated the bill title and purpose statement to reflect inclusion of HMO contracts in the prohibition of discretionary clauses.

DEFINITION

Added 'HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION CONTRACT' to the definition of covered policies in Section 12-211(b).

Floor votes · Senate Mar 23, 2025 · House of Delegates Mar 1, 2025

How they voted

46–0

Passed

Total votes 46

Mar 23, 2025

D Democratic33

33 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican13

13 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 6, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor - Chapter 396

executive

Apr 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned Passed

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Third Reading Passed

upper

Apr 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable Adopted

upper

Apr 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable Report by Finance

upper

Mar 23, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (46-0)

senate

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred Finance

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

lower

Mar 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Health and Government Operations

lower

Mar 1, 2025

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (137-0-3)

house of delegates

Feb 5, 2025

Committee

First Reading Health and Government Operations

lower

24 primary · 0 co-sponsors