In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Health Equity Act. This Act established the Maryland Commission on Health Equity (MCHE) and charged it with advising state officials on issues of racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic health disparities. Additional legislation was passed in subsequent years to expand MCHE membership and add additional focus areas for the commission to consider. 

Per statute, MCHE is responsible for using a health equity framework to: 

1. Examine and make recommendations regarding the following:  

1. Health considerations that may be incorporated into the decision–making processes of government agencies and private sector stakeholders who interact with government agencies

2. Requirements for implicit bias training for clinicians engaged in patient care and whether the State should provide the training

3. Training for health care providers on consistent and proper collection of patient self–identified race, ethnicity, and language data to identify disparities accurately; and

4. Requirements to comply with, and for enforcement of, National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (CLAS Standards)

2. Foster collaboration between units of the State and local government and develop policies to improve health and reduce health inequities;

3. Identify measures for monitoring and advancing health equity in the State

4. Establish a State plan for achieving health equity in alignment with other statewide planning activities in coordination with the State’s health and human services, housing, transportation, education, environment, community development, and labor systems; and

5. Make recommendations and provide advice, including direct advice to the Secretary, on implementing laws and policies to improve health and reduce health inequities.