Senator Hershey Sponsors Rural Healthcare Bills

Peter Heck • April 3, 2019

State Senator Steve Hershey (R-36) is sponsoring four bills in the current Maryland General Assembly session designed to improve healthcare in rural areas such as the Eastern Shore.

Hershey’s Bill SB1018, “Health Facilities - Chestertown Rural Health Care Delivery Innovations Pilot Program,” is closest to being enacted. The bill is part of a community effort to save the Chestertown hospital, which many think is in danger of being closed or downgraded by University of Maryland Shore Regional Health, its parent facility.

The bill’s summary states that the pilot program would “promote innovative solutions for a sustainable future for inpatient care in rural areas, satisfy requirements for hospital-based care, and ensure improvements to community health.” The bill would also require the state Department of Health to report to the Governor and General Assembly on the first five years of the program and make recommendations based on its findings. As part of the pilot program, the bill would “clearly define certain transportation requirements, establish a certain payment model, identify and address certain regulatory barriers, and seek certain innovative approaches” to providing healthcare in the community.

Margie Elsberg of the Save the Chestertown Hospital group said in an email that the bill “will transform our hospital into a Rural Health Care Pilot Program.” She said the program will be able “to use state resources and innovative initiatives to attract physicians to Chestertown, restore staff members and services, and turn the hospital into a strong and sustainable rural community asset. Under this program, which is scheduled to continue for at least ten years, the hospital will always provide inpatient care.”

The bill was approved by the Senate by a 46-0 vote on March 21. It is now in the House of Delegates, where it was scheduled for a hearing by the Health and Government Operations Committee on April 3. Elsberg noted that Shore Regional Health supports the bill, which means that the bill will likely be approved by the House and sent to Gov. Larry Hogan for signature. The text of the bill is online at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2019RS/bills/sb/sb1018t.pdf.

Hershey is sponsoring three other bills that address rural healthcare in the state. All have had Senate committee hearings but have not advanced farther as of this writing. SB1010 would require the Maryland Health Commission to determine whether the Chestertown hospital has reduced its services or transferred some of them to other Shore Regional Health locations. Using fiscal year 2015 as a baseline, the assessment aims to determine whether Shore Regional Health has consistently directed patients who would normally go to the Chestertown hospital to go to Easton for treatment. It would also assess whether specialists working at Chestertown have been transferred to Easton, and whether vacancies at Chestertown—from retirement or other reasons—have been left unfilled.

SB1028 would provide grants and scholarships for students in healthcare programs if they practice in a rural area for a designated period of time, while SB1029 would require institutions of higher learning in rural areas of the state to develop programs to recruit and train nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

All together, if passed, these four state bills could help to retain and improve medical services in Maryland’s rural areas.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Mail

Common Sense for the Eastern Shore

Six Reasons Why the House Budget Bill Will Hurt Rural America

By Michael Chameides, Barn Raiser • May 21, 2025

Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.

Who Will SNAP Cuts Affect in Maryland? On the Eastern Shore?

By Catlin Nchako, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities • May 21, 2025

The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.

Not Law Yet

By Jan Plotczyk • May 21, 2025

Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:

Eastern Shore Delegation: 2025 “Highlights”

By Jared Schablein, Shore Progress • May 13, 2025

Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.

Democrats reach historic goal: A full slate in Virginia House races

By Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury • May 12, 2025

For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.

2025 General Assembly Report: Results for Working Families on the Eastern Shore

By Jared Schablein, Shore Progress • April 22, 2025

The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.