Maryland just opened a new door for insurers. Carriers can sell private paid-leave plans to employers – and the filing clock is already running.
In a bulletin dated June 2, 2026, the Maryland Insurance Administration set out how carriers must file forms and rates for "Equivalent Private Insurance Plans," or EPIPs, under the state's Family and Medical Leave Insurance program. An EPIP is a private plan an employer can buy instead of paying into the state-run FAMLI program.
The backdrop: in 2022, Maryland passed Senate Bill 275, the Time to Care Act, requiring employers, with limited exceptions, to provide paid family and medical leave plus job protection. The state program is funded by payroll contributions from employees and employers. But under Labor and Employment Article Section 8.3-705, an employer can meet its obligations through an EPIP instead – self-funded or fully insured. Every EPIP must provide benefits the same as or greater than the state program.
Self-funded plans are not insurance and skip the Administration. A commercially insured EPIP is an insurance product, so carriers have to file the forms and rates for review and approval.
The rules are tight. Forms and rates go in together through SERFF – the Administration will not take them separately. Filings must be submitted as group filings with a master policy, certificate, and policy application, plus rates and an actuarial memorandum. Every policy must carry both family leave and medical leave benefits. One without the other will not qualify, and neither will a rider added to a previously approved disability policy.
Then there is the deadline. A carrier that wants its EPIP live by January 1, 2028 – the program's first year – must file no later than September 30, 2026.
The Administration is offering some room to move. It is building an Employer Policy/Certificate Template that carriers must use as a drafting guide, to be posted at least 90 days before the deadline. Forms that track the template closely get expedited review.
Two flexibilities stand out. First, carriers may release illustrative rate quotes before a product is formally filed and approved – provided they clearly disclose the quotes are not actual quotes and that final rates, subject to approval, may run higher or lower. The bulletin ties that to Section 27-202(1) of the Insurance Article, which bars estimates that misrepresent a policy's terms. Second, carriers may bundle an EPIP with another core product, such as life or disability income, from the same insurer. The contracts must be separate, but a carrier may require an employer to buy the core product to get the EPIP.
One practical note: once the Administration approves an EPIP's forms and rates, the FAMLI Division at the Maryland Department of Labor will accept that as confirmation the plan qualifies, and will not run its own separate review.
For carriers, the takeaway is simple. This is a new product line with a fixed entry date and a clear rulebook. Miss September 30, 2026, and you sit out the program's first year.
