House Health and Government Operations Committee of the Maryland General Assembly
Testimony on: HB 628 - “Secretaries of Principal Departments - Supervision and Review of Decisions and Actions by Units Within Departments”
Position: Support
Hearing date: February 15, 2017
The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland and Environs supports HB 628 which calls for the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene or his designee to refer a proposed action by a licensing board or commission in DHMH to the Office of Administrative Hearings for review to ensure that action is not anti-competitive in nature.
HB 628 says the types of actions that the Secretary may refer to the Office of Administrative Hearings and the process by which that office shall review the actions are to be specified in regulations adopted by the Secretary in consultation with stakeholders and other interested parties.
This bill is intended to comply with guidance from the Federal Trade Commission that interpreted requirements imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court case of North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC (2015). The guidance noted the need for a “clearly articulated state policy” to provide active supervision of decisions by state licensing boards composed of a “controlling number of market participants” (practitioners) to prevent unreasonable anticompetitive actions by the board. Licensing boards without active state supervision are subject to anti-trust litigation that has treble damage liability.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh is to be commended for creating a working group including presidents of licensing boards in DHMH and state attorneys to develop a process for DHMH to effectively address the requirements imposed by the Supreme Court decision. What that group decided is now embodied in HB 628.
Whether the process outlined in HB 628 proves to be workable will be determined largely by the regulations that are developed to implement the bill. The best way to increase the likelihood the regulations will be workable and effective is to have the presidents of a number of the Boards and Commissions in DHMH or their senior staff be well represented among the stakeholders and other interested parties who the Secretary consults when drafting the regulations.
In summary, HB 628 is a reasonable approach to address the requirements imposed by the Supreme Court’s North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC decision. FCAME encourages this committee to issue a favorable report on HB 628.
Brian Ditzler, FCAME Vice President,
FCAME is the volunteer-run, regional chapter of the non-profit Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), the oldest and largest consumer protection organization focused solely on guarding the rights (and wallets) of grieving consumers. FCA’s many chapters across the country are dedicated to: helping consumers be more informed about death care options, and protecting the public from fraud and abuse in cremation, funeral and burial transactions. FCA and its chapters take no money from the death care industry or government.
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland & Environs (FCAME)
301-564-0006 . email:
9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814