State News

A new report commissioned by the state highlights the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on
Black and Latino communities across New Jersey, reports NJ Spotlight News. Structural
inequities, including lack of access to essential resources and environmental injustices, are
cited as key contributors to the disparities in morbidity and mortality within these communities.
The state faces challenges in addressing these systemic issues, but there is a call for legislative
action to promote health equity and prepare for future crises.

Illinois has altered eligibility guidelines for the state-funded health insurance programs Health
Benefits for Immigrant Adults and Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors, reports the Chicago
Tribune. To reduce program costs, the state modified eligibility rules to stop offering benefits to
those who have green cards but have not yet completed a 5-year waiting period, with the
intention of moving those residents to Marketplace plans. The rule change is estimated to affect
roughly 6,000 residents.

Colorado lawmakers have advanced several policies in recent years to lessen the burden of
medical debt, reports Colorado Newsline. One such policy removes medical debt from
consumer credit reports, impacting an estimated 700,000 residents. Another recent law caps the
allowable interest on the debt to 3 percent and aims to ensure transparency with consumers.
About 11 percent of Coloradans have medical debt in collections, with a median amount of
$693.

New Mexico will require drug manufacturers health insurers, pharmacy benefits managers, and
pharmacy services administrative organizations to report prescription drug prices and trends to
the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, reports the Albuquerque Journal. The data
gathered will be used to guide future policies to reduce prescription drug prices.

Rhode Island policymakers have introduced an initiative to enhance health care access and
affordability across the state, reports WPRI. The HEALTH Initiative consists of over two dozen
legislative proposals across four target areas: consumer protection, provider availability and
care quality, cost containment, and health system financial stability. Measures include
eliminating medical debt through ARPA funding, prohibiting medical debt reporting to credit
bureaus, capping interest rates on medical debt, and preventing liens on patients' homes due to
medical debt. Other proposals involve enhancing training for health care professionals,
establishing scholarship programs, expanding Medicaid reimbursement for mental health
services, and adopting various interstate compacts to improve access to care. Additionally, the
initiative includes measures to promote price transparency, establish drug affordability
commissions, and review primary care rates.

A new report finds Colorado's standardized health-insurance plan, known as the Colorado
Option, is changing how consumers interact with insurance, reports Public News Service. In
2024, more than 93,000 Coloradans enrolled in Colorado Option plans, more than doubling
enrollment in 2023 and representing more than a third of all enrollments through Connect for
Health Colorado. More insurers are also offering plans, providing much-needed competition in
12 counties. Primary goals for the Colorado Option were to make insurance easier to
understand and more affordable, and to improve health outcomes for historically disadvantaged
communities.

Oregon’s state employee health insurance plan instituted a cap on hospital payments, resulting
in over $100 million in savings during the first two years, according to a study in Health Affairs.
The cap, which limited hospital facility prices to 200 percent of Medicare payments for in-
network services and 185 percent of Medicare payments for out-of-network services, was
implemented in October 2019 and January 2020 for members of Oregon’s state employee
health insurance plan. The cap was associated with a 25.4 percent reduction in outpatient price
levels. Inpatient facility prices per admission did not change significantly in the first year, but
declined in the second year of the policy. Price variation also declined as hospitals’ relative
prices moved closer to the cap.

In 2022, Georgia implemented a reinsurance program as part of its Section 1332 waiver of the
Affordable Care Act, but an analysis shows it may have reverse effects, according to a study in
Health Affairs. An analysis shows that the minimum cost of enrolling in subsidized coverage
increased 30 percent and overall enrollment numbers are down by one-third. This outcome
suggests that reinsurance programs may show unintended consequences for residents looking
for affordable health care coverage.

New Mexico will require hospitals to notify the state of mergers and acquisitions and grant the
state government oversight over such transactions, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. Under
the Health Care Consolidation Oversight Act, the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance’s
review of proposed transactions can include the potential reduction or elimination in access to
essential services, along with the availability, accessibility, and quality of health care services to
affected communities, including patient costs and potential for the transaction to affect health
outcomes for residents. The legislation follows a failed $11 billion health care merger in the
state and aims to address concerns over the trend of hospital acquisitions by out-of-state and
private equity firms.