Legislative committees are evaluating comprehensive measures to prohibit vertical integration within the healthcare supply chain. Companion proposals would make it unlawful for any entity to maintain overlapping ownership or control between health insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers, and retail pharmacies, as well as between insurers and direct healthcare providers. If enacted, these measures would force non-compliant entities to divest their overlapping assets within three years and prohibit them from receiving payments under the state medical assistance program until the Attorney General determines the structural violations are resolved.

Additional legislative activity targets pharmaceutical costs and behavioral health workforce constraints. Lawmakers are considering a pilot program to establish upper payment limits for prescription medications, tying state reimbursement caps to the maximum fair price published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Concurrently, a new measure seeks to mitigate staffing shortages by allowing individuals with a master’s degree in mental health counseling to practice under clinical supervision for up to ninety days while their applications for licensure and limited permits are processed by the state.

On the regulatory front, the State Education Department adopted rules conforming the state’s shared pharmacy services framework to recent statutory changes and aligning clinical experience requirements for speech-language pathology with national standards. Additionally, the department issued proposed rules that would formally authorize nurse practitioners to evaluate students for concussions or sudden cardiac arrest prior to their participation in extracurricular athletic activities, alongside updates to student immunization requirements. Separately, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services adopted reporting modifications for the Volunteer Firefighter Enhanced Cancer Disability Benefits Program to improve local compliance and data accuracy.