ANNAPOLIS, MD — A group tasked with implementing federal health reform in Maryland is recommending that insurance agents and brokers continue to sell small-group health insurance when health exchanges begin operating in the state.

Gov. Martin O’Malley has appointed the nine members to serve on the board overseeing Maryland’s health benefit exchange.

The Maryland Workplace Health & Wellness Symposium will be held June 3, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the BWI Marriott in Baltimore, Md.

Three bills introduced in the Maryland General Assembly, if passed, would be the first major steps toward implementing federal health reform in the state.

A council, formed by Maryland’s Democratic governor, Martin O’Malley, to anticipate and prepare for federal health reform in Maryland, predicts the state may save between $622 million and $1.04 billion by 2020 from the federal law.

Beginning October 1, Maryland officials will be able to recover damages and penalties from those who file false claims against state health plans and programs, including Medicaid, under a new law signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley.

A Maryland non-profit organization, whose members include insurance companies, was awarded a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help the state improve its health information technology systems.

Federal legislators are expected to finish their work on health care legislation this week, but for Maryland officials, the work is just beginning.

President Obama “fired up” a largely student audience at the University of Maryland Comcast Center Thursday, trying to induce them to support his embattled health care reform plan.