ANNAPOLIS, MD — Every year, the Maryland legislature adopts hundreds of new laws, most of which take effect in October. But there are a few — some of them were passed in the fall, others are finally coming into effect after several years — that kick in on Monday, Jan. 1. They range from requiring residents to replace any outdated home smoke alarms with a 10-year sealed alarm to a law that expands and protects access to birth control by mandating that insurers provide most forms of contraception, including vasectomies, with no out-of-pocket costs to patients.

Insurers must also pay for over-the-counter birth control, including the morning-after pill. Women will be able to obtain birth control pills and other contraception in six-month doses, rather than on a monthly basis, The Baltimore Sun reports. Implants and intrauterine devices will no longer require pre-authorization by insurance companies. The bill was adopted in 2016, but designed not to take effect until 2018 so insurers had time to prepare.

Most Maryland new laws kicked in Oct. 1, see a link to that list below. SEE ALSO:

And eight more laws that take effect on Jan. 1 range from requiring insurance carriers to regularly assess their risks to requiring insurance plans to pay the cost of diabetes test strips without a copay, and imposing new safeguards on personal data handled by Maryland employers. The laws are:

Insurance – Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment Act

Requiring specified carriers to maintain a risk management framework for specified purposes; requiring specified carriers or specified insurance groups to conduct an own risk and solvency assessment regularly or at any time when there are significant changes to the carrier's or insurance group's risk profile; requiring specified carriers to submit to the Maryland Insurance Commissioner a specified report or reports on request or if the Commissioner is the lead state commissioner of a specified insurance group; etc. HB 127

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene – Board of Review – Repeal

Repealing provisions of law relating to the Board of Review of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; repealing provisions of law that require the Board of Review to make specified recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, advise the Secretary on specified matters, hear and determine specified appeals, and report at specified intervals to the Secretary; providing that a specified petitioner may not be charged a fee for specified costs under specified circumstances; etc. HB 136 Insurance – Public Adjusters

Altering specified provisions concerning the licensing and practice of public adjusters; adding and altering specified definitions relating to public adjusters; providing an exception to licensing for specified marketing activities; repealing the requirement that public adjuster license application forms include specified employment disclosures; repealing the requirement for specified experience before taking a specified written examination; applying the Act to all public adjuster licenses issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2018; etc. HB 730