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CA Senate Approves AI Companion Chatbots Safety Bill California’s Senate passed a bill ( SB 243 ) that would require artificial intelligence-powered companion chatbot platforms to remind users...
OR Lawmakers Close to Approving Unemployment for Striking Workers The Oregon House passed a bill ( SB 916 ) that would allow striking workers to receive unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks. The...
CO Changes Way PBMs Paid Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a bill ( HB 1094 ) that, among other things, will allow pharmacy benefit managers, starting in 2027, to only be paid a flat service fee instead...
LA Homeowners Sue Insurers over Inadequate Fire Coverage Victims of the Los Angeles wildfires in January have filed a pair of lawsuits claiming USAA, a Texas-based insurer that serves members of the...
A year ago, after the passage of a couple of strong data privacy laws in Maryland and Vermont, we wondered if states were starting to get tougher on consumer privacy . Even though this issue remains...
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Wisconsin’s Assembly passed multiple healthcare-related bills with broad bipartisan support. One (AB 43) would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control to those 18 and older. It now moves to the Senate. Another measure approved by the Assembly (SB 4) would exempt direct primary care, where patients pay monthly or annual fees to access primary care services, from the state’s insurance laws. Passed by the Senate in February, it now goes to Gov. Tony Evers (D). The Assembly also approved SB 14, which would require hospitals to obtain written consent from patients before performing pelvic examinations on them while they are unconscious for educational purposes. It now goes to the governor’s desk as well. (WISCONSIN EXAMINER, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Iowa’s legislature passed a bill (SF 383) that would impose new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers. If signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) the measure would prohibit PBMs from using financial incentives or other strategies to encourage customers to use specific pharmacies. PBMs would also be required to reimburse pharmacies at a drug’s national average acquisition cost. (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
As part of his plan to address a projected $12 billion budget deficit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed ending coverage of popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy under Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, on Jan. 1, 2026. According to the governor’s office, that change would save the state $85 million in the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year and as much as $680 million by the 2028-29 fiscal year. (CALMATTERS)
—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK
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