Private Equity Healthcare Deals Down in 2026 The number of healthcare deals in the second quarter of 2026 involving private equity was down 18.5% from the same period last year, according to a report from PitchBook , a company that tracks private investment....
MD Lawmakers to Consider Drug Price Cap Bill in 2027 Maryland legislators will consider a bill next year aimed at speeding up the process of capping prescription drug prices. The measure, to be sponsored by Del. Jennifer White Holland (D), would allow the state’s...
FDA Advisory Panel Supports Widening Access to Several Peptides Last week an advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of allowing compounding pharmacies to produce six peptides previously banned over safety concerns. Despite being...
MO Joins Other States in Banning Insurer Limits on Anesthesia Coverage With its enactment of HB 2372 last week, Missouri joined half a dozen other states in prohibiting insurance companies from imposing time limits on anesthesia coverage. The legislation was...
CA Joins NJ in Requiring Employers to Share Cost of Employees’ Medicaid Coverage California enacted a bill ( SB 177 ) directing the state’s Department of Finance to come up with options for employers with at least 250 workers enrolled in Medi-Cal...
LA Lifts Ban on Obesity Treatment Via Telehealth Last month Louisiana enacted a bill ( SB 30 ) that will allow the prescription of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound via telehealth. For years, doctors in the state had been prohibited from...
Growing List of States Restricting AI Chatbot Therapy Colorado ( HB 1195 ), Maine ( LD 2082 ) and Tennessee ( SB 1580 ) enacted laws this year banning artificial intelligence chatbots from providing therapy. Illinois, Nevada and Utah passed first-in-the-nation...
AK Legislature Passes Bill to Expand Pharmacists’ Prescribing Authority On the final day of Alaska’s regular session, state lawmakers passed a bill ( HB 195 ) that would allow pharmacists to write prescriptions for basic ailments like the flu, strep...
VA Enacts Host of Healthcare Affordability Bills Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed a slate of bills aimed at reducing the cost of healthcare. HB 625 and SB 161 will let residents choose insurance plans with flat rates for copays for prescription drugs...
PA House Committee Approves AI in Healthcare Bill The Pennsylvania House Communications and Technology Committee advanced an amended version of a bill ( HB 1925 ) that would require healthcare facilities and insurers to notify patients when AI is used in decision...
Trump Administration Expands Medicaid Fraud Scrutiny to All 50 States In an effort to fight fraud, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is requiring all 50 states to submit plans for revalidating their Medicaid providers. CMS had already requested information...
On Jan. 7, 2025, two weeks before Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Biden administration issued a new rule barring credit reporting agencies from reporting medical debt and prohibiting creditors from considering medical...
State and Federal Funding Flowing for Ibogaine Research President Donald Trump signed an executive order providing up to $50 million in federal funding for states to conduct research on ibogaine, a psychedelic drug that hasn’t received FDA approval for...
KS Lawmakers Pass PBM Bill A bill aimed at tightening regulations on PBMs ( SB 360 ), but which appeared unlikely to move forward this session, was inserted into another bill ( SB 20 ) during a conference committee hearing and passed by the House and Senate....
VT Bill Addresses Privacy of AI in Healthcare The Vermont House passed a bill ( HB 814 ) to bolster privacy protections around the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. The bill would establish “neurological rights” to protect individuals’...