New Health Laws Are Taking Effect In Nearly 20 States
News outlets round up the health-related measures that will become law in 2024 across the nation.
Modern Healthcare:
Here Are The New State Healthcare Laws Taking Effect In 2024
Almost 20 states enacted healthcare laws taking effect in January, ranging from insurance regulation to gender-affirming care legislation. (Desilva, 1/2)
The New York Times:
New State Laws Will Affect Americans Starting Jan. 1, 2024
A spate of new state laws, including on guns, minimum wage and gender transition care, went into effect as the calendar flipped to 2024. Perhaps the most significant change bans programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion at publicly funded colleges and universities in Texas. In other states, Americans will follow new rules on guns and marijuana, as well as have additional health care and workplace protections. About three dozen states enacted new laws on voting in 2023, but most of the practical effects won’t be felt until primary and general elections in 2024. (Hassan, 1/1)
CBS News:
Illinois To Ban Indoor Vaping In 2024
Vaping will be banned indoors in public places in Illinois in the new year.Effective Jan. 1, 2024, an amendment to the Smoke Free Illinois Act will ban the use of "electronic smoking devices" such as vape pens and electronic cigarettes inside public spaces. ..."E-cigarettes contain nicotine and other chemicals which can be harmful to both those who use them and those who are exposed to them," said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. (Feurer, 12/29)
The Baltimore Sun:
New Maryland Laws Taking Effect Jan. 1: Plastic Bag Bans, Minimum Wage, Health Insurance Coverage Requirements
New laws taking effect the first day of 2024 will bump Maryland’s minimum wage to $15 an hour for most employers, broaden insurance coverage, extend the list of counties with plastic bag bans, and attempt to rein in telemarketers. (Belson, 1/1)
The Washington Post:
Wages And Health Care: New Year’s Day Brings New Laws To The DMV
Maryland lawmakers also passed a half-dozen measures aimed at improving access to health care by placing new requirements on medical insurers. One of those laws eliminates cost-sharing for patients receiving diagnostic and supplemental breast exams. Similarly, insurers will have to cover the costs of screening for and diagnosing lung cancer. Some insurers will also have to cover biomarker testing. Another new law requires the state’s Medicaid program to cover medically necessary gender-affirming care without discrimination. Accessing prescription drugs may get a little easier for some patients under another new law in Maryland. Medical insurers must develop a process for patients to request an exception to a step therapy or fail-first protocol that requires patients to try the least-expensive drug available before advancing to a more expensive treatment option, even when their doctor recommends a more expensive drug. Those exception requests must be processed swiftly under the new law. (Shepherd, Vozzella and Brice-Saddler, 12/31)
In related news —
Politico:
Why Fears About Biden’s Marijuana Moves Are Overblown
President Joe Biden’s administration is poised to make the biggest shift in federal drug policy in decades by loosening marijuana restrictions, but the move is sparking blowback from an unlikely constituency: legalization advocates. They argue that moving marijuana to a lower classification would do nothing to address the federal-state divide in marijuana laws, fail to address the impacts of criminalization, disrupt existing state-regulated cannabis markets, lead multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies to dominate the medical cannabis industry and spur a potential federal crackdown. (Zhang, 1/1)
