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States Target School Cell Phone Use At least four states have banned or severely restricted the use of smart phones in schools in the current legislative biennium. Florida became the first state to do...
Compounded Weight-Loss Drugs Creating Headaches for State Regulators With popular weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy in short supply, many doctors, pharmacies and other providers have...
In their seminal book on the American health care system, legendary investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele offered a disturbing metaphor for the illogical nature of medical pricing...
PA Lawmakers Pass Bill Regulating PBMs The Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill ( HB 1993 ) aimed at increasing oversight of pharmacy benefit managers. If signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), the measure...
In a sign of the times, states have begun pursuing bills that require disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence. In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed SB 149 , making the state the first...
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 in the state paused IVF procedures after the Alabama Supreme Court issued a decision granting “personhood” status to frozen embryos and making such clinics subject to prosecution for destroying them under the state’s wrongful death law. Both bills were passed by their chamber of origin and could become law this week. (AL.COM, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Florida Sen. Erin Grall (R) pulled her bill (SB 476) aimed at granting civil protections to unborn children after concerns were raised about its potential impact on IVF procedures, following the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling. The measure had already cleared a couple of committees, but Grall said work had to be done to safeguard IVF treatment. (WASHINGTON POST, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
Mississippi’s House passed a bill (HB 1725) that would expand Medicaid to cover those who earn less than 138% of the federal poverty limit but require them to work at least 20 hours a week at a job that doesn’t provide health insurance coverage. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann (R), who also leads the state’s Senate, has expressed support for a companion bill in that chamber. But Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has steadfastly opposed Medicaid expansion and indicated he’s skeptical about the feasibility of work requirements. (PLURIBUS NEWS)
A pair of Los Angeles-based doctors and the activist group Do No Harm have filed a lawsuit challenging California’s requirement that all continuing medical education courses include training in implicit bias, unconscious beliefs that could contribute to racial and ethnic bias. The suit is part of a national effort by right-leaning advocacy groups to push back against DEI initiatives in health care, partly spurred by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year barring affirmative action in higher education. (KFF HEALTH NEWS)
—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK
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