February 25, 2025

CA Lawmakers Turn Attention to Mental Health of LA Wildfire Victims

CA Bill Focuses on Mental Health of Wildfire Victims A bill ( AB 1032 ) introduced in the California Assembly would require healthcare service plans and insurers to reimburse enrollees or insureds who live in a county where a state or local emergency has been declared due to wildfires for up to 12 visits with a licensed behavioral health provider. The measure’s author, Assemblymember John Harabedian (D), said...

February 25, 2025

Top Compliance Issues for Insurance Industry in 2025

Expect a lot of activity at the state level on insurance issues in 2025, so says attorney Karen C. Yotis , content manager for insurance on the Practical Guidance team for LexisNexis®. We asked Yotis, a frequent contributor to State Net® Capitol Journal™ articles, to outline for us what she believes will be the top compliance issues for the insurance industry this year. Much of the industry’s attention...

February 18, 2025

Flurry of Legislative and Regulatory Action on CA Wildfires

Flurry of Legislative Action on Wildfires in CA In response to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles last month, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara (D) and several state lawmakers have proposed a 10-bill package of legislation aimed at improving disaster preparedness and assisting wildfire survivors. The bills include the California Safe Homes Act, which would create a grant program to help residents...

February 18, 2025

States Targeting DeepSeek & Social Media Protections for Minors Bill in CT

TX, NY & VA Target DeepSeek Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) launched an investigation into the privacy practices of the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek. The state claims the company violated the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act. ( KXAN ) Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) banned the use of DeepSeek on government devices and networks in their respective...

February 18, 2025

AR’s Tough PBM Bill & Uncertain Future for NY’s Health Data Privacy Bill

AR Lawmakers Considering Aggressive PBM Regulation A bill ( HB 1150 ) under consideration in the Arkansas House may be the most aggressive effort to regulate pharmacy benefit mangers yet. The measure would bar PBMs from owning pharmacies, potentially forcing healthcare conglomerates like CVS Caremark and United Health’s Optum Rx to split up their businesses in Arkansas. ( PLURIBUS NEWS , LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)...

February 18, 2025

Interest in Crypto Heats Up in State Capitols

These are heady days for enthusiasts of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and digital assets. President Trump has declared himself the “ crypto president ,” unleashing a surge of crypto-friendly proposals at the state and federal levels at a time when bitcoin closed the month of January at a record high . As we predicted in December , several states are already looking to follow the Trump Administration’s...

February 11, 2025

CA Asks Insurers to Fully Cover LA Wildfire Victims’ Personal Property Without Itemization & More

CA Urges Insurers to Make Things Easier for LA Wildfire Victims California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara (D) issued a notice to residential property insurance companies in the state urging them to go beyond their legal obligation and pay policyholders affected by the wildfires last month in Southern California 100% of their personal property coverage limits without requiring them to itemize everything they lost...

February 11, 2025

Legislation Pushing Back on AI Regulation in MT and NH, MD’s Bitcoin Reserve Bill & More

Legislative Backlash Against AI Regulation A bill introduced in Montana ( SB 212 ) and a proposed constitutional amendment in New Hampshire ( CACR 6 ) would establish a right to compute, guaranteeing access to the hardware, software, networks and algorithms needed for developing artificial intelligence. The measures are part of a libertarian-oriented backlash against recent state efforts to regulate the use of AI. ...

February 11, 2025

Proposed PBM Regulations in IA and MS

More PBM Regulation Under Consideration in IA After passing pharmacy benefit manager regulations last year, Iowa lawmakers are considering a pair of bills ( HSB 99 and SSB 1074 ) that would require all prescription drug contracts to use a pass-through pricing model, in which PBMs charge employers, insurers or other plan sponsors the same amount the PBMs paid the supplying pharmacies, and PBMs are compensated only through...

February 11, 2025

State Lawmakers Eye Guardrails for Use of AI in Healthcare

In late September, California became one of the first states to establish some ground rules for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law AB 3030 and SB 1120 . The first of those bills, by Sen. Josh Becker (D), lays out guidelines for how AI may be used to make decisions on insurance coverage. The second, by Assemblywoman Lisa Calderon (D), requires providers to disclose...

January 28, 2025

Proposed Noncompete Clause Ban in OH

Bipartisan Bill to Ban Noncompete Clauses Introduced in OH Ohio Sens. Bill Blessing (R) and Bill DeMora (D) have introduced legislation ( SB 11 ) that would ban employers from enforcing noncompete clauses in worker contracts. Blessing said the bill was likely to face backlash from the business community. Ohio is one of 10 states that impose no restrictions on noncompete agreements. California, Minnesota, North Dakota...

January 28, 2025

IN Senate’s Passage of Under-16 Social Media Ban, Coming Surge of Bitcoin Investing Bills & More

IN Senate Passes Under-16 Social Media Ban Indiana’s Senate passed a bill ( SB 11 ) that would prohibit social media companies from allowing those under the age of 16 from accessing their platforms without parental consent. A provision that would have allowed parents or guardians to sue for violations was stripped from the measure in committee. But the bill would still allow the state’s attorney general...

January 28, 2025

Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against GoodRX, PBMs & Wave of Healthcare Investment Legislation

Lawsuit Accuses GoodRX, PBMs of Price-Fixing A proposed class action lawsuit filed in federal court in California alleges online prescription drug price comparison platform GoodRx and several pharmacy benefit managers, including CVS Caremark and Express Scripts, engaged in a price-fixing scheme by sharing pricing information and agreeing not to bid against each other on reimbursement rates for generic drugs. The lawsuit...

January 28, 2025

LA Wildfires Offer Reminder of Precarious State of Insurance

The wildfires in Los Angeles this month have done more than just upended lives and destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of property . They’ve also wreaked havoc with an insurance market that was already precariously situated, as we reported in July and October of 2023. “It will take weeks to know the full extent of damages from fires that haven’t yet subsided,” Bloomberg wrote in early...

January 22, 2025

AI Companion Chatbot Proposal in NY, Under-16 Social Media Ban in IN & More

NY to Weigh AI Companion Chatbot Liability New York Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D) is drafting a bill that would make developers of AI companion chatbots liable for harm those chatbots cause to minors. The first-in-the-nation proposal comes after a 14-year-old chatbot user took his own life. Similar legislation could also come this year in California. ( PLURIBUS NEWS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ) IN Senate Panel Advances Under...

January 22, 2025

Proposed PBM Restriction in AR & Healthcare Worker Shortage Bill Coming in ME

AR Looks to Bar PBMs from Owning Pharmacies Arkansas Rep. Jeremiah Moore (R) has introduced a bill ( HB 1150 ) that would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies. Moore said the noncompetitive practice raises drug prices. ( ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE , LEXISNEXIS STATE NET) ME House Speaker to Introduce Bill Addressing Healthcare Workforce Shortage Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D) has drafted...

January 21, 2025

Pharmacy Benefit Managers Remain Priority for State Lawmakers

Just five months ago , we wrote about state legislators’ growing interest in pharmacy benefit managers . The issue is vital, as pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs, contract with health insurers and employers to manage the prescription drug benefits of millions of Americans . Legislators’ interest has not waned, as early into a new year of lawmaking, PBMs remain a popular topic for newly introduced...

January 15, 2025

Big Projected Losses from LA Wildfires & TX’s Driver Data Lawsuit Against Allstate

Cost of LA Wildfires Could Reach $150B J.P. Morgan said last week that insured losses from the wind-driven wildfires in Los Angeles could reach $10 billion, according to reporting by Reuters. AccuWeather initially estimated the total damage and economic loss from the fires would range from $52 billion to $57 billion, but days later it revised its estimate to between $135 billion and $150 billion, which would make the...

January 15, 2025

More Social Media Bills Coming This Year

More Kids’ Online Safety Measures Expected in 2025 Despite legal challenges that have blocked new state laws aimed at protecting kids from the potential harms of social media from taking effect, lawmakers in multiple states, including Indiana, Nevada, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming, will consider such social media regulations this year. “Although several kids’ privacy and online...

January 15, 2025

MA’s New Healthcare Investment Law & ACA Coverage of Weight Loss Drugs in ND

New MA Law Increases Oversight of Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed a bill ( HB 5159 ) expanding oversight of private equity investment in the healthcare sector. The law is the first in the nation to ban “sale leaseback” agreements, through which hospitals sell their real estate to an investment trust and then lease it back from the REIT. Other states including...

January 15, 2025

Internet Age-Verification Remains Hot Topic in State Legislatures

Just a couple of weeks into the new year, state legislators appear to be watching and waiting to see how things shake out with the new Trump administration. But despite the uncertainty, one issue— as expected —has already emerged as a priority in some statehouses: verifying the age of Internet users to protect children from explicit or harmful material. Online Age-Verification Bills Piling Up Ahead of...

December 20, 2024

Big Rise in MI’s Minimum Wage

MI’s Minimum Wage Rising Most Next Year Twenty-three states’ minimum wages are increasing in 2025, typically by about 3%. But Michigan’s minimum wage will rise 21% by the end of February, as a result of a ruling by the state’s Supreme Court last summer ending a long battle over a pair of ballot measures approved in 2018. The increase will take the state’s minimum wage from $10.33 per hour...

December 20, 2024

Top Issues for State Lawmakers in 2025

A year ago, when we published our annual forecast of the top issues likely to come before state legislators in the new year, we wrote that the world was full of “ uncertainty and tension ” headed into 2024, citing “Wars in Israel and the Ukraine,” an up-and-down economy and, of course, big question marks surrounding the presidency. Heading into 2025, we still have a war in the Ukraine and persistent...

December 18, 2024

States Enact Slew of Tech Legislation in 2024, Social Media Warning Label Bill in CA & More

State Lawmakers Not Reluctant to Regulate Tech in 2024: All 46 states that held legislative sessions this year enacted measures regulating technology, 238 measures in all, a 163% increase from 2023, according to a new report from New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics and Center on Tech Policy. Almost half of the new laws—107 in 41 states—deal with artificial intelligence, including...

December 18, 2024

State Lawmakers' Continuing Focus on Telehealth & NY’s New EpiPen Insurance Law

Telemedicine Still ‘Critical Focus’ for State Lawmakers: This year states passed at least 176 bills that adjust existing laws to accommodate the higher demand for telehealth services since the Covid-19 pandemic. That total roughly equals the 171 bills enacted in 2023, indicating that “telehealth remains a critical focus of state legislative efforts, showcasing its growing role in the healthcare landscape...