Gov. Wes Moore wants to cut $26 million in Maryland Department of Health funding to balance the budget for 2025.

In total, his administration is floating about $148 million in total cuts to keep the budget at $63 billion.

Most of the cuts to MDH hone in on delaying hiring for new positions into later in the year for agencies like Family Health and Chronic Disease Services and the office of the deputy secretary for health care financing.

However, there are cuts to programs and local health services.

The administration is planning on reducing funding for local health departments by about $12 million, changing funding from $123.2 million to $111.2 million.

Another reduction effectively guts a year of funding for the Behavioral Health Care Cooperation Value-Based Purchasing pilot, a $600,000 per year program.

It pays providers based on outcomes rather than the services they provide.

Another program facing reductions is the Assistance in Community Integration Services pilot, which gives housing to people with chronic illnesses.

That program would lose about $1 million in funding and end up with $5.4 million.

Finally, the budget would cut funding for the Maryland Patient Safety Center, which focuses on preventing unnecessary harm in healthcare settings.

Funding for the center would go from $1 million to $750,000.