A new law in Maryland will require state health officials to report what they are doing to prevent deaths and relapses among patients receiving care at drug addiction treatment programs.

Under the law effective July 1, signed by Gov. Wes Moore last week, the Maryland Department of Health must detail in two annual reports how the state agency is improving oversight and regulation of the treatment field.

The new legislation follows reporting by The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times last year that found state health regulators had barely vetted a flood of new treatment programs despite paying hundreds of millions of dollars annually to help the state’s poorest residents.

The bill’s sponsor, Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a Democrat who represents Baltimore, previously said he was prompted to act after reading how the Banner/Times investigation linked at least 13 deaths, including that of a 1-year-old child, to one drug treatment provider, PHA Healthcare, which placed some patients in what were essentially government-funded drug houses in Baltimore.

Three days after the story’s publication, health officials ordered PHA Healthcare to stop treating patients, though some clients have remained in program-operated housing.

Alarmed by rapid growth and quality concerns among of some types of mental health and addiction programs, state health officials began last year to crack down on suspected Medicaid fraud and rewrite weak regulations.

The state health department “looks forward to continuing to partner with the General Assembly to ensure Maryland is providing quality and patient-centered behavioral health care,” spokesman David McCallister said in a statement after the bill’s signing.