Maryland Code, HEALTH – GENERAL 20-2204
Terms Used In Maryland Code, HEALTH - GENERAL 20-2204
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- including: means includes or including by way of illustration and not by way of limitation. See
- state: means :
(1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or
(2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) The University of Maryland Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy is designated as the State‘s Consumer Health Information Hub.
(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 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.