The Maryland state legislature is officially in session and with it come nearly 300 bills that were pre-filed by lawmakers to be taken under consideration.

A handful of those have the potential to directly affect the health and well-being of Marylanders this year or in the near future.

Better access to diapers and menstruation products

One bill from Sen. Sarah Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) would allow people on supplemental nutrition assistance programs (SNAP) will be able to use their benefits for diapers and menstruation products.

The process is a little more complicated than simply passing a law. The bill would allow Maryland to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Agriculture Department, which would allow people in Maryland to use SNAP and other benefits for those products.

Providing the USDA gives the OK, and this bill passes, then the benefits can be used toward the products. The legislation follows in the footsteps of Illinois, which passed a similar law last year.

Single-payer health care

Delegate Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) filed an ambitious 86-page bill that would provide single-payer, universal health care to Maryland residents.

The bill would create a public corporation and a state government office to provide services for Maryland residents by 2025.

The corporation and office would be in charge of establishing requirements for single-payer health care, including eligibility, participation, benefits, payroll premiums and collective negotiations with health care providers.

Nutrition for inmates

According to the Maryland Department of Health, individuals incarcerated in the state have a more than double the rate of chronic diseases like diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and liver disease.

Del. Terri Hill (D-Anne Arundel, Howard) thinks Maryland can help the health of its inmates, while also possibly saving the state some money.

Hill’s bill requires the secretary of public safety and correctional services to work the with health secretary to update minimum mandatory standards for food services.

It also establishes a pilot program that will establish minimum mandatory standards for inmate food services. That program will offer plant-based options for meals and beverages.

One jail in Arizona went vegetarian in 2015 and saved $200,000 in the first year of the program. The jail even garnered the attention of Pamela Anderson.

“Maryland could save millions of dollars annually in health care costs that could be reinvested into reentry programs by reducing the purchase of animal foods and animal–based beverages and by providing plant–based food whole meals a few days during the week,” Hill wrote in the bill.

Setting goals for people in behavioral health facilities

Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George’s), introduced a bill that would require mental health treatment facilities to come up with a plan for patients that includes a discharge goal and an estimated length of state.

If the patient allows it, those plans will be shared with family members so they can help reach benchmarks to schedule aftercare.