February 21, 2024

State Prescription Drug Affordability Review Boards, Weight Loss Drug Insurance Coverage & More

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 high-cost drugs for both private- and public-sector consumers, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy . Last year Colorado’s board,...

February 21, 2024

Pro-Labor Bill in WA, Anti-Union Bill in GA & More

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 in her chamber ( SB 5777 ), said she expects that measure to reach the Senate floor, although she said she needed to review amendments made to the House version...

February 20, 2024

State Lawmakers Wade Into Third-Party Litigation Funding

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 and other businesses, as well as state lawmakers. TPLF Potentially $5B Industry in America Third-party litigation funding, or TPLF for short, is exactly...

February 06, 2024

Abortion Pill Case Coming to SCOTUS in March, New Anti-Transgender Approach in AZ & More

SCOTUS Sets Date for Abortion Pill Case The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could limit access to the abortion drug mifepristone on March 26. The FDA initially approved the drug for terminating pregnancies through seven weeks gestation in 2000 and extended that period to 10 weeks in 2016. U.S. District Judge Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk stayed FDA approval of the drug last April, but that decision...

February 06, 2024

Youth Social Media Bills in CA, NY; States Receive Failing Grades for Data Privacy Laws & More

CA, NY Target Social Media Addictive Feeds, Youth Data Collection California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), Sen. Nancy Skinner (D), and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D) introduced a pair of bills last month aimed at protecting youth online. SB 976 would allow parents of users under 18 decide whether they receive a chronological feed from users they follow or an algorithmic feed, the current default. The measure would...

February 06, 2024

State Lawmakers Continue to Tackle Health Care Workforce Shortage

We told you at the end of December that the nationwide healthcare workforce crisis would remain a top issue for state lawmakers in 2024 . And indeed it is, as evidenced by a spate of new bills addressing the issue pending in state capitols across the country. States Approach Issue from Several Angles As of Feb. 1 there were over 100 measures referring to health care workforce pending in 25 states, according to the...

January 30, 2024

Stronger SEC Oversight of SPACs, IA’s Renewed Effort to Ban State ESG Investing & More

SEC Strengthens Oversight of SPACs The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted to increase oversight of special-purpose acquisition companies, which have taken hundreds of companies public in recent years. The SEC’s new rules will require more disclosure about conflicts of interest, equity dilution, fees, and insider compensation in SPAC deals, as well as prevent SPACs from benefiting from a legal safe harbor...

January 30, 2024

‘First Comprehensive AI Legislation’ of 2024, FL’s Aggressive Children’s Online Safety Bill Passes House & More

VA and VT Introduce ‘First Comprehensive AI Legislation’ of 2024 Legislation has been introduced in Virginia ( HB 747 ) and Vermont ( HB 710 ) that would set standards for developers of “high risk”—meaning designed to make consequential decisions—or generative artificial intelligence systems. Among other things the bills would require developers to take steps to avoid “algorithmic...

January 30, 2024

CA Close to Requiring Insurers to Cover PrEP, Bill with Medical Malpractice Caps Emerges in FL & More

CA Legislature Passes Bill Requiring Insurers to Cover PrEP California’s Legislature passed a bill ( SB 339 ) that would require health insurance companies to cover the cost of pharmacist-filled orders of PrEP medications, which prevent the transmission of HIV. A bill passed in the state in 2019 made PrEP drugs available without a prescription, but pharmacists said they were still having difficulty filling orders...

January 30, 2024

State Legislatures Turn Attention to Citizens’ Crushing Medical Debt

Medical debt is crushing Americans across the nation. Recent surveys have found that roughly a third of working-age Americans are struggling with medical debt , while more than half of Americans have been unable to pay medical bills on time or in full . Indeed, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that $88 billion in debt was reported on consumer credit records as of June 2021. In September, the...

January 23, 2024

FL’s Aggressive Children’s Online Safety Bill Advances, UT Revising Children’s Online Safety Laws & More

FL House Panel Advances Aggressive Children’s Online Safety Bill Florida’s House Judiciary Committee approved a bill ( HB 1 ) that would prevent 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—which goes significantly further than legislation passed last year in other states, including Arkansas ( SB 396 ...

January 23, 2024

Health Care Workforce Bills Advance in FL, Holdout States Considering Medicaid Expansion & More

FL Senate Passes Health Care Workforce Bills Florida’s Senate passed legislation ( SB 7016 and SB 7018 ) that would allocate $800 million for bolstering the state’s health care workforce, including by providing tuition assistance for medical and dental students, and loans for building clinics. The measures were approved unanimously after being amended to cut tuition and educational aid by $70 million and...

January 22, 2024

Gender-Affirming Care Continues to Occupy—and Divide—State Lawmakers

The political divide on “ gender-affirming care ” has contributed to a patchwork of state laws in recent years that has made the issue a challenging one for compliance officers in the health care sector. That state of affairs is set to continue in 2024. Red-State Bans and Blue-State Shield Laws In the past few years the legislative trend associated with gender-affirming care that has drawn the most media...

January 16, 2024

SEC’s Approval of Bitcoin ETFs, FL’s Aggressive Children’s Online Safety Bill & More

SEC Approval of Bitcoin ETFs First Step of ‘Technological Revolution’ in Finance Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 applications to establish exchange-traded funds that track the current price of Bitcoin. The go-ahead for some of the world’s largest financial firms, including BlackRock and Fidelity, to offer the ETFs gives the cryptocurrency industry some regulatory legitimacy—although...

January 16, 2024

Health Care Bills Advance in FL, Veto Override of Transgender Care Ban in OH & More

Health Care Workforce and Mental Health Services Bills Advance in FL Florida Senate committees advanced a pair of bills ( SB 7016 and SB 7018 ) aimed at bolstering the state’s health care workforce and expanding access to mental health services. The measures, which are a top priority for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R), would allocate $797 million for a variety of programs, including those to increase...

January 16, 2024

State AI Legislation Off to Quick Start in 2024

It’s still only January, but you’d be forgiven if you had a little Groundhog Day -esq déjà vu after looking at the slate of artificial intelligence bills pending in state legislatures. Early into the new year, it’s clear legislators across the country continue to wrestle with basic oversight of AI, a technology that’s evolving at seemingly warp speed (and which we have been closely...

January 03, 2024

Generative AI Has State Legislatures Rushing to Take Action

STATE NET ® THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SERIES Interest in Artificial Intelligence Creates a Flurry of Legislative Activity Not too long ago the social conversation about generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools—which utilize algorithms to generate seemingly original content including text, images and audio—was a curious science fiction discussion. Suddenly, it is very real and is stirring up emotions...

December 20, 2023

Top Issues for State Lawmakers in 2024

We enter 2024 in a world full of uncertainty and tension. Wars in Israel and the Ukraine. A looming presidential election that threatens to divide our divided country even more. An economy that may, or may not, be teetering on the edge of a recession. With this as the backdrop, states will soon be starting their 2024 legislative sessions. Given the state of things these days, it’s hard to predict what may happen...

December 18, 2023

Epic Games’ Courthouse to Statehouse Battle with Apple and Google, Changes Ahead for UT Social Media Law & More

Epic Battles Apple and Google from Courthouse to Statehouse Last week a jury in San Francisco handed Epic Games, developer of the popular video game Fortnite, a rare victory over a Big Tech company, finding that Google violated federal and California antitrust laws by restricting download and payment options for Android apps purchased through its app store. The legal battle, which began when Epic sued Google in 2020...

December 18, 2023

End of Medical Debt Reporting in NY, Big Health Care Spending Bills in FL & More

NY Ends Reporting of Medical Debt New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a bill ( SB 4907 ) prohibiting hospitals and health care providers from reporting medical debt to credit agencies, and barring credit agencies from collecting information about such debt. Colorado enacted a similar measure (HB 1126) in June, and legislation aimed at reducing the financial burden of medical debt has been introduced in at least a...

December 17, 2023

States Take Another Look at Nuclear Power to Combat Climate Change

If advocates like Bill Gates get their way, the acronym SMR may soon become critical to fighting climate change. SMR stands for “ small modular reactor ,” a type of nuclear reactor that has about a third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear reactors. The Microsoft co-founder believes SMRs can help the U.S. transition away from fossil fuels. A company he founded in 2008, TerraPower, is poised...

December 11, 2023

Potential Regulatory Pushback to P/C Rate Increases Next Year & Lower Surplus Lines Tax Rate for KS Insurers

S&P Analyst Says P/C Insurers to Face Regulatory Resistance to Rate Increases Next Year At a Standard & Poor’s webinar last week entitled “IN/sights: Outlook and Trends for U.S. Insurers—What to Expect in 2024 and Beyond,” Tim Zawacki, principal insurance analyst, S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the biggest challenge P/C insurers will face next year is resistance from regulators...

December 11, 2023

NM AG Accuses Meta of Facilitating Sex Abuse, Push for Open-Source AI from Meta and IBM & More

NM AG Sues Meta for Exposing Minors to Sex Abuse New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez (D) filed a lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta gives sexual predators free access to minors. Torrez said other lawsuits filed against the company have focused mainly on the negative mental health affects of social media on minors, but his state’s suit is the first to also focus on the potential harms...

December 11, 2023

FL Senate President’s 2024 Health Care Agenda, Repeal of Drug Maker Liability Shield in MI & More

FL Senate President Outlines Health Care Priorities for 2024 Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R) unveiled her health care agenda for next year. It includes addressing workforce shortages, establishing new teaching hospitals for behavioral health and expanding health care price transparency. But it doesn’t include Medicaid expansion ( PLURIBUS NEWS ). MI Repeals Drug Manufacturer Liability Shield...

December 11, 2023

AI in Insurance: The Good, the Bad and What Worries Regulators

Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize any industry that relies heavily on data. So it’s no wonder that the insurance industry is delving deeper and deeper into AI, to the concern and consternation of regulators everywhere. “Insurers are all over AI,” said attorney Karen C. Yotis of the Practical Guidance Team for LexisNexis ®, “because insurance impacts much of what...