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February 11, 2025

CA Asks Insurers to Fully Cover LA Wildfire Victims’ Personal Property Without Itemization & More

CA Urges Insurers to Make Things Easier for LA Wildfire Victims California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara (D) issued a notice to residential property insurance companies in the state urging them to go beyond their legal obligation and pay policyholders affected by the wildfires last month in Southern California 100% of their personal property coverage limits without requiring them to itemize everything they lost...

February 11, 2025

Legislation Pushing Back on AI Regulation in MT and NH, MD’s Bitcoin Reserve Bill & More

Legislative Backlash Against AI Regulation A bill introduced in Montana ( SB 212 ) and a proposed constitutional amendment in New Hampshire ( CACR 6 ) would establish a right to compute, guaranteeing access to the hardware, software, networks and algorithms needed for developing artificial intelligence. The measures are part of a libertarian-oriented backlash against recent state efforts to regulate the use of AI. ...

February 11, 2025

Proposed PBM Regulations in IA and MS

More PBM Regulation Under Consideration in IA After passing pharmacy benefit manager regulations last year, Iowa lawmakers are considering a pair of bills ( HSB 99 and SSB 1074 ) that would require all prescription drug contracts to use a pass-through pricing model, in which PBMs charge employers, insurers or other plan sponsors the same amount the PBMs paid the supplying pharmacies, and PBMs are compensated only through...

February 11, 2025
State Lawmakers Eye Guardrails for Use of AI in Healthcare

State Lawmakers Eye Guardrails for Use of AI in Healthcare

In late September, California became one of the first states to establish some ground rules for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law AB 3030 and SB 1120 . The first of those bills, by Sen. Josh Becker (D), lays out guidelines for how AI may be used to make decisions on insurance coverage. The second, by Assemblywoman Lisa Calderon (D), requires providers to disclose...

January 28, 2025

Proposed Noncompete Clause Ban in OH

Bipartisan Bill to Ban Noncompete Clauses Introduced in OH Ohio Sens. Bill Blessing (R) and Bill DeMora (D) have introduced legislation ( SB 11 ) that would ban employers from enforcing noncompete clauses in worker contracts. Blessing said the bill was likely to face backlash from the business community. Ohio is one of 10 states that impose no restrictions on noncompete agreements. California, Minnesota, North Dakota...

January 28, 2025

IN Senate’s Passage of Under-16 Social Media Ban, Coming Surge of Bitcoin Investing Bills & More

IN Senate Passes Under-16 Social Media Ban Indiana’s Senate passed a bill ( SB 11 ) that would prohibit social media companies from allowing those under the age of 16 from accessing their platforms without parental consent. A provision that would have allowed parents or guardians to sue for violations was stripped from the measure in committee. But the bill would still allow the state’s attorney general...

January 28, 2025

Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against GoodRX, PBMs & Wave of Healthcare Investment Legislation

Lawsuit Accuses GoodRX, PBMs of Price-Fixing A proposed class action lawsuit filed in federal court in California alleges online prescription drug price comparison platform GoodRx and several pharmacy benefit managers, including CVS Caremark and Express Scripts, engaged in a price-fixing scheme by sharing pricing information and agreeing not to bid against each other on reimbursement rates for generic drugs. The lawsuit...

January 28, 2025
LA Wildfires Offer Reminder of Precarious State of Insurance

LA Wildfires Offer Reminder of Precarious State of Insurance

The wildfires in Los Angeles this month have done more than just upended lives and destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of property . They’ve also wreaked havoc with an insurance market that was already precariously situated, as we reported in July and October of 2023. “It will take weeks to know the full extent of damages from fires that haven’t yet subsided,” Bloomberg wrote in early...

January 22, 2025

AI Companion Chatbot Proposal in NY, Under-16 Social Media Ban in IN & More

NY to Weigh AI Companion Chatbot Liability New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D) is drafting a bill that would make developers of AI companion chatbots liable for harm those chatbots cause to minors. The first-in-the-nation proposal comes after a 14-year-old chatbot user took his own life. Similar legislation could also come this year in California. ( PLURIBUS NEWS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ) IN Senate Panel Advances Under...

January 22, 2025

Proposed PBM Restriction in AR & Healthcare Worker Shortage Bill Coming in ME

AR Looks to Bar PBMs from Owning Pharmacies Arkansas Rep. Jeremiah Moore (R) has introduced a bill ( HB 1150 ) that would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies. Moore said the noncompetitive practice raises drug prices. ( ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE , LEXISNEXIS STATE NET) ME House Speaker to Introduce Bill Addressing Healthcare Workforce Shortage Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D) has drafted...

January 21, 2025
Pharmacy Benefit Managers Remain Priority for State Lawmakers

Pharmacy Benefit Managers Remain Priority for State Lawmakers

Just five months ago , we wrote about state legislators’ growing interest in pharmacy benefit managers . The issue is vital, as pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs, contract with health insurers and employers to manage the prescription drug benefits of millions of Americans . Legislators’ interest has not waned, as early into a new year of lawmaking, PBMs remain a popular topic for newly introduced...

January 15, 2025

Big Projected Losses from LA Wildfires & TX’s Driver Data Lawsuit Against Allstate

Cost of LA Wildfires Could Reach $150B J.P. Morgan said last week that insured losses from the wind-driven wildfires in Los Angeles could reach $10 billion, according to reporting by Reuters. AccuWeather initially estimated the total damage and economic loss from the fires would range from $52 billion to $57 billion, but days later it revised its estimate to between $135 billion and $150 billion, which would make the...

January 15, 2025

More Social Media Bills Coming This Year

More Kids’ Online Safety Measures Expected in 2025 Despite legal challenges that have blocked new state laws aimed at protecting kids from the potential harms of social media from taking effect, lawmakers in multiple states, including Indiana, Nevada, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming, will consider such social media regulations this year. “Although several kids’ privacy and online...

January 15, 2025

MA’s New Healthcare Investment Law & ACA Coverage of Weight Loss Drugs in ND

New MA Law Increases Oversight of Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed a bill ( HB 5159 ) expanding oversight of private equity investment in the healthcare sector. The law is the first in the nation to ban “sale leaseback” agreements, through which hospitals sell their real estate to an investment trust and then lease it back from the REIT. Other states including...

January 15, 2025
Internet Age-Verification Remains Hot Topic in State Legislatures

Internet Age-Verification Remains Hot Topic in State Legislatures

Just a couple of weeks into the new year, state legislators appear to be watching and waiting to see how things shake out with the new Trump administration. But despite the uncertainty, one issue— as expected —has already emerged as a priority in some statehouses: verifying the age of Internet users to protect children from explicit or harmful material. Online Age-Verification Bills Piling Up Ahead of...

December 20, 2024

Big Rise in MI’s Minimum Wage

MI’s Minimum Wage Rising Most Next Year Twenty-three states’ minimum wages are increasing in 2025, typically by about 3%. But Michigan’s minimum wage will rise 21% by the end of February, as a result of a ruling by the state’s Supreme Court last summer ending a long battle over a pair of ballot measures approved in 2018. The increase will take the state’s minimum wage from $10.33 per hour...

December 20, 2024
Top Issues for State Lawmakers in 2025

Top Issues for State Lawmakers in 2025

A year ago, when we published our annual forecast of the top issues likely to come before state legislators in the new year, we wrote that the world was full of “ uncertainty and tension ” headed into 2024, citing “Wars in Israel and the Ukraine,” an up-and-down economy and, of course, big question marks surrounding the presidency. Heading into 2025, we still have a war in the Ukraine and persistent...

December 18, 2024

States Enact Slew of Tech Legislation in 2024, Social Media Warning Label Bill in CA & More

State Lawmakers Not Reluctant to Regulate Tech in 2024: All 46 states that held legislative sessions this year enacted measures regulating technology, 238 measures in all, a 163% increase from 2023, according to a new report from New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics and Center on Tech Policy. Almost half of the new laws—107 in 41 states—deal with artificial intelligence, including...

December 18, 2024

State Lawmakers' Continuing Focus on Telehealth & NY’s New EpiPen Insurance Law

Telemedicine Still ‘Critical Focus’ for State Lawmakers: This year states passed at least 176 bills that adjust existing laws to accommodate the higher demand for telehealth services since the Covid-19 pandemic. That total roughly equals the 171 bills enacted in 2023, indicating that “telehealth remains a critical focus of state legislative efforts, showcasing its growing role in the healthcare landscape...

December 17, 2024
State Legislators Debate ‘Earned Wage Access’ Products

State Legislators Debate ‘Earned Wage Access’ Products

The financial services company Payactiv offers wage earners an enticing pitch. “Live the life you earned,” reads a headline on the company’s homepage. “With Payactiv, you can access your wages as you earn them before payday...” Sounds perfectly reasonable. But Payactiv and its competitors in the burgeoning “earned wage access” industry— DailyPay , Earnin and Dave —are...

December 06, 2024

Pornographic Deepfake Bills in TX & Data Center Energy Challenges for States

TX Lawmaker Targeting Pornographic Deepfake Tools Accessible by Minors Texas Rep. Mary González (D) has prefiled a package of bills for next year’s session targeting minors’ access to artificial intelligence-generated sexually explicit images and videos. The state has already passed legislation dealing with nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes, but these measures would go further, placing requirements...

December 06, 2024

Nursing Home Industry’s Push for Repeal of New Staffing Regulation

Nursing Home Industry Pushing for Repeal of Nurse Staffing Mandate With President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House next year, the nursing home industry has been ramping up its efforts to kill the Biden administration’s new nurse staffing regulation . That mandate—issued in April in response to the over 172,000 covid-related deaths of nursing home residents nationwide during the pandemic—will...

December 05, 2024
Crypto Craze Draws Attention of State Lawmakers

Crypto Craze Draws Attention of State Lawmakers

Nearly 16 years after it was made available to the public, bitcoin is poised for its biggest moments yet in 2025. Thanks to growing acceptance among regulators, businesspeople and political leaders, the cryptocurrency just reached a major milestone by topping the $100,000 price point for the first time, and it's on the verge of achieving several others. But while bitcoin’s crossing of that $100,000 threshold...

November 20, 2024

States’ Leadership on AI Regulation to Continue Next Year, Legal Challenges to New CA Tech Laws & More

AI Regulation to Remain in State Hands in 2025 In the absence of congressional action on artificial intelligence, state legislatures have taken the lead on the issue. And that’s likely to continue next year. While it’s unclear how President Trump will approach AI regulation, Craig Albright, senior vice president for U.S. government relations at BSA The Software Alliance, a trade group, said with Republicans...

November 20, 2024

NLRB’s Ban on Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings

NLRB Prohibits Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings In a decision stemming from a complaint over Amazon’s actions before a successful unionization election at a New York warehouse in 2022, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that companies can’t require workers to attend meetings held to discourage workers from unionizing. The NLRB’s ban on such captive audience meetings could be reversed by the Trump...