State Health Updates

• Alabama – Governor Kay Ivey signed an executive order to establish the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Advisory Group. The Advisory Group will advise the governor on the progress, policy development and implementation of Alabama’s Rural Health Transformation Program (ARHTP) after its anticipated launch in January. SHVS continues to update our expert perspective featuring an interactive map identifying states that have formally announced their RHTP submission and/or publicly released their application materials.
• California
  • Governor Gavin Newsom announced the launch of the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange (PHNIX), an initiative to modernize public health infrastructure and maintain trust in science-driven decision-making. The state is engaging some of the nation’s most respected public health voices to consult on this initiative. PHNX will serve as a hub for advancing modern tools, best-in-class science, and coordinated responses to emerging health threats.
  • Governor Newsom announced the state’s partnership with The Trevor Project to further improve training for California’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline counselors to better support LGBTQ youth. More than 1,000 crisis counselors will be offered the new training beginning this month through March 2026. This effort is part of a statewide commitment Governor Newsom announced earlier this year to support LGBTQ youth, who remain disproportionately impacted by suicide risk and mental health challenges.
• Colorado – The Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) announced that it was granted enforcement authority over federal Transparency in Coverage (TiC) requirements by the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. The move comes after Governor Polis and Commissioner Conway announced that Colorado became the first state in the country to collect state-specific federal TiC data in August. Colorado being granted enforcement authority means that the federal government is allowing Colorado DOI to monitor whether carriers are meeting state and federal TiC data rules, and to issue penalties, fines, and other enforcement actions on carriers who are not compliant.
• Connecticut
  • Governor Ned Lamont announced that his administration submitted a plan to the Connecticut General Assembly to tap into the recently created Emergency State Response Reserve in response to recent federal funding reductions. The plan includes funding for the replacement of the expiring enhanced premium tax credits, supplemental payments to federal qualified health centers, coverage of the lost federal reimbursement for services provided by Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, operational costs for the Connecticut Department of Social Services to help Medicaid and SNAP clients meet new eligibility rules and program requirements, and funding for food assistance and to keep people in their homes. Legislative leaders have 24 hours upon receipt of the plan to review and approve.
  • Governor Lamont announced that $63 million in medical debt will be eliminated for an additional 40,000 Connecticut residents under the third round of the state’s medical debt erasure initiative. In total, nearly 160,000 Connecticut residents have had $198 million in medical debt eliminated since the initiative began in December 2024. SHVS has updated our expert perspective tracking state medical debt cancellation initiatives.
• Delaware – Governor Matt Meyer announced nearly $19 million in medical debt has been eliminated for more than 18,000 Delawareans under the first round of the state’s medical debt relief program. The effort is supported by a $500,000 investment included in the FY2026 budget to eliminate up to $50 million.
• Illinois
  • Governor JB Pritzker signed HB 1312 to enshrine protections for immigrant families, including ensuring privacy at hospitals. HB 1312 includes the creation of the Health Care Sanctity & Privacy Law, preventing the unlawful release of protected health information and requires all general acute care hospitals to implement a policy regarding interactions with law enforcement agents by January 1, 2026, and all other hospitals by March 1, 2026.
  • Governor Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying bill (SB 1950), a law that will provide qualified terminally ill patients with the option to seek medication to peacefully end their lives on their own terms in consultation with physicians. The law is effective as of September 2026, which affords participating providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health lead time to implement stringent processes and protections as outlined in the law. ​ ​
• Michigan – Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian has issued a standing recommendation regarding children’s vaccines, advising healthcare providers and families to follow the child and adolescent immunization schedule produced by the American Academy of Pediatrics or the American Academy of Family Physicians.
• Minnesota – The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) will soon extend a two-year licensing pause to adult day care settings in order to focus on oversight of existing licensed providers. The pause is likely to last from February 1, 2026, through January 31, 2028. DHS previously announced a two-year pause on new home and community-based services licenses. 
• New Jersey 
  • First Lady Tammy Murphy announced cross-government efforts to further bolster New Jersey’s doula workforce. This includes recent steps–such as the NJ Doula Assistant Tool and the State Rubric Assessment Tool–to eliminate barriers to entry and enable more doulas to participate in Medicaid.
  • The New Jersey Department of Health and the New Jersey Department of Human Services announced that the federal government has approved approximately $540 million in funding to help hospitals care for uninsured residents and to improve outpatient services for Medicaid patients. This investment, planned for state fiscal year 2026, comes through the Medicaid Outpatient State-Directed Payment Program.
• New York
  • Governor Kathy Hochul announced an agreement with the Legislature to make medical aid in dying available to terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live. The bill, with the agreed-upon amendments, will be passed and signed in January, and the law will go into effect six months later.
  • Governor Hochul signed legislation to establish confidentiality requirements for communications made by law enforcement during peer-to-peer counseling sessions. Amid a rise in suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder rates among police officers, this legislation seeks to reduce stigma and create formal pathways for first responder mental wellness while ensuring communications are protected and disclosure standards are established.
• Oregon – The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced that Medicaid enrollees will now be able to get over-the-counter birth control pills, including Opill, and emergency contraception at no cost at pharmacies in the state. OHA, in collaboration with the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, made this possible through a standing order, which allows pharmacists to provide these medications to Medicaid enrollees and bill Medicaid.
• Virginia – Governor Glenn Youngkin highlighted progress made in implementing executive order 52, “Strengthening Oversight of Virginia’s Nursing Homes,” signed in August 2025. Through this executive order, Governor Youngkin directed the Virginia Department of Health, through its Office of Licensure and Certification, to make significant advances toward increasing workforce capacity, strengthening nursing home oversight, modernizing operations, and enhancing transparency. These efforts will improve the quality of care for nearly 33,000 nursing home residents.
• Washington – The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) and Department of Health (DOH) released a new resource library to help healthcare providers and emergency medical services personnel build knowledge and confidence to prescribe and administer medications for opioid-use disorder. HCA and DOH also launched an awareness campaign to connect providers to training, clinical support, and patient education materials.