Under national health care reform, insurance policies in Maryland will be required to cover acupuncture for pain management and chiropractic care in certain cases.

The plans won't cover acupuncture for other treatments, such as infertility or stress, and will limit home health care to 120 visits per year and physical therapy for ailments such as sports injuries to 50 days a year.

The state panel charged with implementing health care reform in Maryland voted Thursday to include these services among those insurers will be required to cover once reform is fully implemented in 2014.

The Affordable Care Act requires that insurers cover certain "essential benefits" but leaves the details up to the states, which must choose from 10 insurance options already sold within their borders. Plans could look different from state to state. Some may cover chiropractors, while others may not.

The Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council chose to model insurance policies under reform after the plans currently offered to the state's employees. The 16-member panel reviewed 10 insurance options before choosing the state plan.

The state plan didn't offer the best coverage in all areas, the group said, but it struck a good balance between offering comprehensive coverage and not driving up costs for consumers.

Panel members said the plan must not be so costly that it dissuades people from opting in. People can choose not to buy insurance, but will have to pay a penalty. In order for reform to work, a balanced share of healthy and sickly people need to be enrolled to share in the costs.

"This plan will give meaningful coverage, but it will still be affordable," said Carolyn A. Quattrocki, the coordinating council's executive director.

Insurance companies don't have to model their plans exactly after the state plan, but they must offer similar options. Open enrollment on the health exchange, the marketplace where those without employee-sponsored insurance will be able to buy policies, will begin in October 2013. Reform will be instituted three months later.

"This gives a green light for insurers to start designing plans for January 2014," said state Health Secretary Joshua Sharfstein, who co-chairs the coordinating council with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.

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Md. picks model for essential health insurance benefits