(2) determine the feasibility of including any portion of the population
that is currently eligible for the Children and Families Health Care Program in an
expanded private option program;

(3) develop a specific health benefit package to be offered through the
private market, taking into consideration both the health care needs and the
affordability concerns of the eligible population;

(4) determine an appropriate annual family contribution level or
premium for the product developed under item (3) of this subsection;

(5) document and consider the number of employers that offer dependent
coverage to employees and the average cost of that coverage to both employers and
employees;

(6) with regard to employer sponsored health benefit plans, determine an
appropriate employer contribution toward the cost of providing dependent coverage to
eligible families; and

(7) develop a plan to foster the enrollment of the children of eligible State
employees, including contractual employees of the State of Maryland in the program
established under § 15-301 of the Health - General Article and any expansion of that
program.

(c) The Department may delegate to the Health Care Access and Cost
Commission the authority to develop a health insurance benefit package in accordance
with subsection (b)(3) of this section.

(d) The Department shall report on the result of its study and its
recommendations in an interim report no later than September 1, 1999, and in
accordance with § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, a final report to the House
Economic Matters Committee and Senate Finance Committee no later than December
1, 1999.

SECTION 2. 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take
effect June 1, 1999.

Approved May 13, 1999.

CHAPTER 382
(Senate Bill 740)

AN ACT concerning

Nursing Facilities—Licensure Requirements—Staffing
Nursing Facilities - Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Reserved Beds
- Task Force on Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities - Nursing Home

Comparative Evaluation System

FOR the purpose of requiring nursing facilities to meet certain staffing requirements