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Bill Regulating PBMs Nearing Passage in CA California lawmakers are on track to pass a bill ( SB 966 ) in the coming weeks regulating pharmacy benefit managers. The measure would prohibit PBM practices as steering patients to PBM-affiliated pharmacies...

MT Follows Trend of States Increasing Oversight of Nonprofit Hospitals The Montana Department of Public Health has proposed rules regarding the collection of data on nonprofit hospitals’ charitable acts, including discounting prices and conducting...

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 begun offering compounded versions of the drugs...

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 would prohibit PBMs from requiring patients to...

PBMs Driving Up Prescription Drug Prices The three largest pharmacy benefit managers—CVS Health, Cigna and UnitedHealth Group—often “steer patients toward pricier drugs, charge steep markups on what would otherwise be inexpensive medicines...

Hospital Cost Transparency Bill Advances in PA The Pennsylvania House Health Committee approved a bill ( HB 2339 ) that would require hospitals to publish a list of the standard costs for all of their services on their website. It would also prohibit...

FDA Advisory Panel Rejects Use of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD An advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration rejected the use of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Among other things the panelists raised...

LA County Launching Ambitious Plan to Address Medical Debt Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health has developed an ambitious plan to address the problem of medical debt, which impacted one in ten, or about 810,000, residents of the county...

AL Enacts Bill Allowing Off-Label Medical Treatment Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a bill ( SB 72 )—passed unanimously by both legislative chambers—that bars the state’s Board of Medical Examiners and Medical Licensure Commission...

Bills Dealing with Psychedelics, Nurses and Breast Exam Insurance Coverage Near Enactment in AK Alaska’s Senate passed a pair of health care bills that originated in the House ( HB 228 and HB 237 ), sending them to Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R). A third...

CA to Cap Health Care Providers’ Annual Price Increases at 3% California’s Health Care Affordability Board voted to limit annual price increases from doctors, hospitals and health insurers to 3%, about 2.4% below the annual rate of those...

MD Drug Affordability Board Weighing Caps on Eight Drugs Maryland’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board could soon impose price limits on up to eight drugs on state-run health insurance plans, including diabetes and weight loss medication Ozempic...

GA Lawmakers Pass Health Care Facility Permitting Bill Georgia lawmakers gave final approval for a bill ( HB 1339 ) aimed at expanding health care coverage for lower-income individuals, sending the measure to Gov. Brian Kemp (R). Among other things...

IL House Takes Up Gov’s Proposed Health Insurance Reforms The Illinois House Human Services Committee heard testimony last week about changes to the state’s health insurance industry that Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) proposed in his State of the...

AL High Court IVF Ruling Draws Backlash Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled in a wrongful death case that frozen embryos used for in vitro fertilization are people, bringing IVF procedures at several state hospitals to a halt and drawing widespread...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Bills to Overhaul Long-Term Care and Control Prescription Drug Costs on Move in MA The Massachusetts House unanimously passed a bill ( HB 4178 ) that would overhaul the long-term care industry, while the Senate unanimously approved a measure ( SB 2492...

Federal Cross-Market Merger Guidelines in Works The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are currently reviewing public comments on draft guidelines for cross-market mergers, including those in the healthcare sector, such as the planned...

CA Legislature Approves $25 Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage On the last day of this year’s regular session, California lawmakers passed a bill ( SB 525 ) that would phase in a nation-leading $25 minimum wage for workers at hospitals, nursing homes...