Maryland
New Maryland Law Expands Medicaid Coverage to Include Transgender Procedures on Kids
![New Maryland Law Expands Medicaid Coverage to Include Transgender Procedures on Kids](https://publisher-ncreg.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pb-ncregister/swp/hv9hms/media/20230508140544_757b96a3d32de76caaf61ca1ab1f62373f10acf34cef1bca5a584770e9012128.jpg)
Most Republicans opposed the laws and fought to incorporate amendments that might have prohibited Medicaid from protecting intercourse change surgical procedures for kids or a minimum of required each dad and mom to consent.
Republicans in Maryland are criticizing Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Wes Moore for approving laws that can develop taxpayer-funded Medicaid protection to incorporate transgender surgical procedures and medicines for kids.
Below the outdated Maryland legislation, which is in impact till Jan. 1, 2024, Medicaid covers transgender surgical procedures and medicines for sufferers who had been a minimum of 18 years outdated and recognized with gender dysphoria. This consists of psychological well being companies, hormone substitute remedy, and gender reassignment surgical procedure. The surgical procedures lined embody genital alterations and alterations to female and male anatomy.
The brand new legislation removes the age necessities for transgender medicine and surgical procedures, which opens these procedures as much as youngsters. It additionally expands the variety of companies offered to each youngsters and adults to incorporate hair alterations, voice surgical procedure, alterations to backsides, face and neck alterations, and fertility preservation companies, amongst different issues. It’s going to additionally cowl puberty blockers for kids.
The laws will even develop protection to youngsters and adults to incorporate companies associated to detransitioning, that are remedies to assist an individual reverse transgender medicine and procedures.
Most Republicans opposed the laws and fought to incorporate amendments that might have prohibited Medicaid from protecting intercourse change surgical procedures for kids or a minimum of required each dad and mom to consent earlier than a baby might obtain these companies. The amendments failed, which implies that docs can carry out these surgical procedures on youngsters and prescribe the medicine so long as one guardian or guardian consents.
“It’s actually heartbreaking that lawmakers permitted radical, usually experimental, surgical procedures and medical castration to youngsters underneath 18 years outdated. And taxpayers foot the invoice,” Republican Del. Kathy Szeliga stated in an announcement offered to CNA.
Republican Del. Ryan Nawrocki expressed issues in regards to the irreversible results that such procedures might have on youngsters.
“By no means in human historical past have there been experiments on youngsters at this scale,” Nawrocki stated in an announcement. “Some within the medical neighborhood are experimenting on youngsters with surgical procedures and prescription drugs that usually depart youngsters sterile. We’re additionally seeing efforts in Annapolis to exclude dad and mom from psychological and bodily well being remedies given to their youngsters who query their gender.”
Del. Bonnie Cullison, who co-sponsored the invoice, stated throughout a committee listening to that the laws doesn’t change present follow associated to minors and prompt that surgical procedures would stay uncommon.
“Many of the industrial insurance coverage firms require the individual to be 18 … for surgical procedure,” Cullison stated.
“The one time there’s an exception to that’s when there’s a clear and current hazard to the younger individual due to their dysphoria. … No surgical procedure would occur in lower than a yr’s time,” she stated.
Nonetheless, Republican Del. Brian Chisholm advised CNA in an interview that there’s “no actual dedication of what’s medically essential.” He added that if a baby will get began on puberty blockers, there’s a a lot larger probability it’ll “progress to a way more harmful surgical procedure.”
“This invoice’s going for use to virtually persuade 13- to 18-year-olds that their life goes to be higher if they only go on the puberty blockers,” Chisholm stated.
Along with Republican lawmakers, others have voiced issues in regards to the new legislation.
“The truth that the Human Rights Marketing campaign has heralded Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s signature of the Trans Well being Fairness Act speaks volumes,” Sarah Parshall Perry, a senior authorized fellow on the Heritage Basis, advised CNA.
“These totally elective procedures are already generally lined by non-public insurance coverage, however now taxpayers within the state shall be compelled to subsidize hormone remedy, hair alteration, voice remedy, bodily alterations to the physique, and fertility preservation,” Perry added.
The laws comes at a time when a number of states have handed payments to forestall docs from performing intercourse modifications on youngsters. Greater than a dozen states have banned surgical intercourse modifications for kids, a few of which have additionally banned medicine that facilitate intercourse modifications for kids.
As of Might, most states nonetheless enable intercourse change operations to be carried out on youngsters.
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Maryland
New laws in Virginia, Maryland, DC going into effect July 1: gun control, cat declawing, child marriages
![New laws in Virginia, Maryland, DC going into effect July 1: gun control, cat declawing, child marriages](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5dc.com/www.fox5dc.com/content/uploads/2024/06/1280/720/GettyImages-1629841158.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Starting July 1, residents in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., will see significant changes as a range of new laws come into effect.
These laws, signed by Governors Glenn Youngkin and Wes Moore, cover various issues from banning cat declawing and child marriages to prohibiting auto sears and cracking down on ticket price scams.
Additionally, D.C. will implement the highest minimum wage in the country, aiming to ensure fair wages for all workers.
Virginia laws going into effect July 1
In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed 777 bills this session.
July 1 brings with it a ban on declawing cats, a ban on child marriages, and prohibits legacy admissions at public higher education institutes.
There is also new legislation that bans “auto sears” — also known as Glock switches.
Those are devices that can convert a semiautomatic firearm into a fully automatic weapon that is able to rapidly fire a full magazine of bullets.
Delegate Michael Jones sponsored HB-22 – one of only two gun laws passed by the governor.
“It’s not your average gun owner who is going to have these, it’s people who are out there trying to hurt innocent people, innocent bystanders,” Jones said. “It’s going to keep us safe and make our streets a little safer.”
Maryland laws going into effect July 1
BALTIMORE, MD – OCTOBER 23: Maryland Governor Wes Moore speaks during a campaign event for Angela Alsobrook’s run for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat at Monument City Brewing Company in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 23, 2023.(Amanda Andrade-Rhoade
Moving into Maryland, Governor Wes Moore signed 1,049 bills into law.
Some changes you will see come July 1 include a ban on vaping in indoor spaces, public transportation, and workplaces, as well as alcohol delivery being allowed from permitted businesses.
And Maryland is cracking down on those wild ticket prices we have seen for concerts and shows lately – becoming the first state in the country to fine resellers and platforms that offer “speculative” tickets – tickets they don’t even own but sell anyway, driving up prices for everyone.
This was Maryland State Senator Dawn Gile’s bill.
She said it is in response to outrage from consumers, and she hopes it changes people’s perspectives on what it means to buy tickets.
“People have just become accustomed that this is what they have to do – pay these astronomical ticket prices to see a show but that’s not the way it should be,” Gile said. “There’s deception in the marketplace, there’s a manipulation in the marketplace of these prices and we can have a fair marketplace.”
Another one going into effect in Maryland on July 1 is called Nick’s Law – which calls for stricter boating rules and punishments when it comes to boating under the influence.
It’s named after Nick Barton, a 21-year-old college lacrosse player who was killed in a boating accident in June 2022 by someone who was drinking.
His mom, Marie Barton, has been fighting to make Maryland waterways safer ever since.
“After I lost Nick, I started looking into everything and I could not believe the law – or the lack of laws, I should say,” Barton said.
Nick’s Law prohibits a person from operating a vessel for two years if they are convicted of boating under the influence and five years if it results in death
“It also gives DNR a database which they have never had before to be able to track these boaters that aren’t supposed to be on the water,” Barton explained.
DC laws going into effect July 1
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5dc.com/www.fox5dc.com/content/uploads/2024/05/932/524/GettyImages-1723100875.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Muriel Bowser, mayor of the District of Columbia, during an interview in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. This summer Bowser and DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said they were united in opposition to a federal measure overhauling poli
The minimum wage is increasing in the District of Columbia on July 1, to $17.50 per hour for non-tipped workers, the highest in the United States.
The DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) sent FOX 5 the following statement.
“Mayor Bowser’s commitment to creating more pathways to the middle class remains a priority.
Starting July 1, the District’s minimum wage will increase to $17.50 per hour for non-tipped workers and $10.00 per hour for tipped employees.
This adjustment is crucial for ensuring workers receive fair wages and our employers comply with D.C. wage laws.
Maryland
High-Tech Help in Clearing Your Plate
![High-Tech Help in Clearing Your Plate](https://umd-today.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/hero/Roboarm_valeriemorgan_1920x1080.jpg?w=1200&h=630&q=82&auto=format&fit=crop&dm=1719586292&s=b866269a81ef7e20235dd53b44875ddf)
As an undergraduate engineering student in Delhi, India, Amisha Bhaskar took a field trip to a facility for disabled war veterans and met a man who had lost both hands. When she asked him what technologies could improve his life, his reply left an indelible impression: He wanted something so he could take care of himself and not be forced to rely upon others.
Now a second-year doctoral student at the University of Maryland studying computer science, Bhaskar has focused on the wounded veteran’s broad request as her area of study. Working with others in the Robotics Algorithms & Autonomous Systems Lab, she is developing an innovative robotic tool to help people with mobility impairments feed themselves.
The team’s work was recognized last month at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Yokohama, Japan, where a paper Bhaskar presented as lead co-author received top honors in a specialized workshop on cooking and robotics.
Existing robotic-assisted feeding technology is very limited, the UMD researchers said. Commercial robotic arms have a fixed, pre-programmed motion that allows them to pick up food only in a specific spot on a plate, and they lack the ability to detect whether they’ve accomplished that task.
“They are not learning on the go, so it will just keep doing this motion no matter if you want to eat it or not, or if the food is picked up or not,” said Bhaskar.
Robotic-assisted feeding can be divided into two steps, she explained: the “acquisition” step involves a utensil picking up the food, while the transfer step is the process of the food reaching a person’s mouth without being dropped or succumbing to some other mishap.
Bhaskar and the UMD team are currently working on the acquisition step, with a lofty goal. While other research groups sometimes count picking up food on a utensil just once as a success, the UMD team’s target is to clear the plate.
The system must be able to recognize and transport a variety of foods served in assisted-care settings—from liquid foods to semi-solid ones like yogurt and tofu to cereals.
One of the most significant challenges for a robot is handling foods with varied textures and consistencies within a single dish, the researchers said. Ramen, for example, presents a complex scenario that includes a liquid broth, squishy tofu, solid vegetables and irregularly shaped noodles that remain the biggest challenge, Bhaskar said. “Every single element requires different strategies, some of which have to be combined,” she said
An interdisciplinary approach has played a key role in the project’s success, said Pratap Tokekar, an associate professor of computer science with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies.
“The technology we’re working on involves computer vision, artificial intelligence, deep neural networks, mechanical engineering and more—it all needs to come together seamlessly so that the robotic system is both safe for users and efficient in accomplishing the task at hand,” he said.
Tokekar is academic adviser to Bhaskar and another graduate student working on the project, Rui Liu, a third-year doctoral student in computer science.
Robotic-assisted feeding is a relatively new area of research for Liu, who had previously focused on computer vision and human-robot interaction. But like Bhaskar, Liu sees the potential here to greatly improve people’s lives, particularly older adults or those with mobility issues that make feeding themselves difficult.
Additional team members include Vishnu D. Sharma, Ph.D. ’24 and Guangyao Shi, Ph.D. ’23, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California.
While the project is probably several years away from real-world application, Tokekar is confident in the team’s progress, and particularly in Bhasker’s and Liu’s eagerness and intense focus.
“The best part of this project is that every time we meet, they have 10 new ideas since the last time that we met,” Tokekar said. “Instead of me telling them what to do, they already know what to do. I’m just helping shape their ideas.”
Maryland
Nice Friday before weekend storms return to Maryland
![Nice Friday before weekend storms return to Maryland](https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/06/28/a6e77fb4-78d6-4d61-a1d7-7f0da37cd8d0/thumbnail/1200x630/93a2930a09ba94899c513e48d38e68b3/c89eff48fa8bb1a7a5615f346b785e06.jpg?v=a23cb4bdf4fa7f3cb72e5118085577f9)
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