CA Gov’s Push for $5B More in Mental Healthcare, NY Bill Blocking Reporting of Medical Debt & More

CA Gov Wants $5B More for Mental Healthcare

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced his support for two bills that would add treatment beds for homeless people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse (SB 326) and pay for that additional treatment with a $4.68 billion bond measure (AB 531) that would go before voters in the state’s spring primary election on March 5.

In 2004 California voters approved Proposition 63, which imposed a 1 percent tax on residents earning over $1 million a year to help cover the cost of mental healthcare. (SACRAMENTO BEE)

NY Legislature Passes Bill to Block Reporting of Medical Debt

The New York Legislature passed a measure (SB 4907) last week that would bar hospitals and other healthcare providers in the state from reporting medical debt to credit agencies. If the measure is signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), New York would become the second state, after Colorado, to prohibit the collection of medical debt information by credit reporting agencies or the inclusion of such information on credit reports. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

PhRMA Files Another Legal Challenge to Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Law 

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the top lobbying organization for the pharmaceutical industry, filed a lawsuit in Texas district court challenging the Democrat-backed federal law granting Medicare the authority to negotiate the price of certain drugs. The suit marks the fourth challenge to the drug pricing law, giving the industry multiple opportunities to derail it and, in this case, routing it in the direction of the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. (AXIOS)

WI, OH Advance Legislation Concerning Pharmacies

Wisconsin’s Assembly passed a bipartisan measure that would let pharmacists prescribe some forms of birth control. With bipartisan support, Ohio’s House passed a bill that would require pharmacies to fill prescriptions for off-label medications. (PLURIBUS NEWS, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, COLUMBUS DISPATCH)

 —Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK