The number of states with prescription drug affordability boards could more than double this year if pending legislation is approved. Maryland became the first state to authorize a prescription drug affordability board, or PDAB, in 2019. Since then, 10 other...
VA Lawmakers Pass Bad Faith Insurance Claims Bill The Virginia legislature passed a bill ( SB 256 ) that, if signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), would require auto insurance companies that refuse to pay a loss of income, medical expense or property damage claim...
U.S. House Passes Bill to Force Chinese Owner’s Divestiture of TikTok On a 334-60 vote, the U.S. House passed a bill ( HR 7521 ) that would require TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the popular video app or have it banned in the United States...
IL House Takes Up Gov’s Proposed Health Insurance Reforms The Illinois House Human Services Committee heard testimony last week about changes to the state’s health insurance industry that Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) proposed in his State of the State address...
Utility companies are so unpopular in America these days that some headline writers don’t even bother trying to be objective about them anymore. “ The simple reason most power utilities suck ” was the headline of a 2017 Vox story. “ Why...
Elon Musk Sues OpenAI for Putting Profits Ahead of Humanity Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in San Francisco accusing ChatGPT creator OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of breach of contract for placing commercial interests ahead...
AL Lawmakers Scramble to Address Supreme Court’s IVF Ruling Alabama’s House and Senate have fast tracked legislation ( HB 237 and SB 159 ) that would grant civil and criminal immunity to providers of in vitro fertilization procedures. Several providers...
Never before has gambling been more accepted in the United States. Today, 38 states —more than three-fourths of the union—permit some form of sports betting. About half allow some form of casino gaming. Forty-eight states have lotteries. Just last...
FL Legislature Passes Social Media Ban for Minors Florida lawmakers gave final approval to HB 1 , which would bar those under 16 from having a social media account and require social media platforms to confirm the age of new and existing users. The measure is...
AL High Court IVF Ruling Draws Backlash Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled in a wrongful death case that frozen embryos used for in vitro fertilization are people, bringing IVF procedures at several state hospitals to a halt and drawing widespread disapproval...
Just three months after we wrote about states’ slow embrace of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin (the hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms), you’d be forgiven for thinking the issue was petering out. After all, the effort to decriminalize psychedelics...
Legal Challenges Not Stopping Youth Social Media Access Bills Legislation that would require social media companies to obtain parental consent before allowing access to minors has been introduced in 14 states, despite legal challenges from the tech industry to...
WA House Passes Bill to Give Striking Workers Unemployment Benefits Washington’s House passed a bill ( HB 1893 ) that would allow striking workers to receive unemployment insurance benefits. Sen. Karen Keiser (D), chief sponsor of companion legislation...
States Addressing High Drug Costs with Prescription Drug Affordability Review Boards Since 2017 at least 11 states have passed laws creating prescription drug affordability review boards, some of which have the authority to implement cost-cutting measures for...
In a world where it seems that just about everything is for sale these days, is it any wonder that there’s a burgeoning market for investment in lawsuits? The practice, known as “ third-party litigation funding ” is a growing concern for insurers...