Health - Maryland Helping Everyone Afford Life-Saving Treatments and Health Care (HEALTH) Fund and Income Tax Checkoff

HB 1059 creates the HEALTH Fund to provide supplemental financial assistance for Maryland Medicaid recipients and privately insured residents facing healthcare costs impacted by federal funding restrictions. It establishes an optional income tax checkoff on state tax returns, allowing residents to make voluntary contributions to the fund. The Comptroller would collect these donations, deduct administrative costs, and deposit the remaining funds into the HEALTH Fund. The fund can only be used for direct healthcare assistance (not administrative expenses) and must supplement, not replace, existing state healthcare funding for eligible individuals.