MD SB326

Physician assistants gain authority to certify patient incapacity for medical treatment decisions, sign certificates for guardianship petitions of disabled persons, and participate in voluntary and involuntary mental health facility admission processes alongside physicians and nurse practitioners

Health maintenance organizations must allow members to select a physician assistant, certified nurse-midwife, or licensed certified midwife as their primary care provider

Physician assistants are added to the list of health professionals who may petition for emergency psychiatric evaluations, certify individuals for involuntary admission, and prescribe/dispense emergency epinephrine under the Emergency and Allergy Treatment Program

Maryland Department of Health must cover examination charges for emergency psychiatric evaluees when conducted by physician assistants, and one physician assistant from the Maryland Academy of Physician Assistants is added to the Statewide Advisory Commission on Immunizations

Maryland Health Care Commission must review emergency department length-of-stay data for involuntary admission cases and evaluate whether overnight shifts at facilities staffed with physician assistants but lacking certification authority result in longer stays, with findings due by November 1, 2026