WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                         Ch. 492

Article 48A - Insurance Code

Section 490W

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1991 Replacement Volume and 1993 Supplement)

BY adding to

Article - Health - General

Section 19-706(k)

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1990 Replacement Volume and 1993 Supplement)

BY adding to

Article—Health Occupations

Section 14-509

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1991 Replacement Volume and 1993 Supplement)

Preamble

WHEREAS, As part of Mercy Medical Center's efforts to launch Baltimore City's
most comprehensive women's program, it commissioned the Gallup Organization to
survey 500 women who live and work in downtown Baltimore City; and

WHEREAS, The findings of the survey were startling, showing that between 38 and
44 percent of all women age 18 through 40 visit only an obstetrician/gynecologist
(OB/GYN) for their routine care; and

WHEREAS, For women aged 41 years and older, 27 percent see only an OB/GYN
for their routine care; and

WHEREAS, For minority women and those women of limited financial means, the
percentages in all age groups who see only an OB/GYN for their routine care are
significantly higher than others; and

WHEREAS, The federal Health Security Act has recognized that OB/GYNs are
sometimes the only physician a significant number of women see for their primary care
needs; and

WHEREAS, Maryland should also recognize the significance of OB/GYNs in
providing primary care to women in the State; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

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