State Health Updates

• Arizona – The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System is inviting public participation in community discussions designed to help members, families, and stakeholders learn about programs and initiatives, and to provide feedback.
• Illinois
  • Governor JB Pritzker signed HB 767 to expand and codify executive order 2025-04, which empowers the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to offer transparent, science-based vaccine guidelines through its expert Immunization Advisory Committee (IAC), while also expanding vaccine access. IDPH will create and publish vaccine guidelines for Illinoisans based on experts from the IAC and state-regulated issuers are required to cover vaccines based on IDPH recommendations.
  • The Illinois Department of Public Health has issued an updated standing order which adds Illinois public libraries to the list of locations that are permitted to keep a supply of opioid overdose reversal agents on hand, and to allow trained staff to administer them in the event of a suspected overdose on their premises. The revised standing order will make it easier for libraries to comply with new provisions of the Illinois Local Library Act which will take effect on January 1, 2026.
• Michigan – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced a plan to invest $37.5 million into stable housing to help Michigan residents recover from substance-use disorder (SUD). A recent analysis by MDHHS found that more than 7,500 discharges from publicly funded SUD treatment annually resulted in people leaving treatment without stable housing. To address this gap, the department has set a goal to create 3,467 new recovery housing beds by 2028, an increase of 40%. 
• Minnesota
  • Governor Tim Walz highlighted improvements in student health and wellbeing, as demonstrated in the 2025 Minnesota Student Survey. Survey results indicate the reversal of a decades-long trend of declining student mental health, reflecting the impact of targeted state investments in children and families, including investments in education.
  • The Minnesota Department of Human Services announced that after unprecedented growth in new applications from home and community-based human services providers, the Department will implement a two-year pause on new licenses to focus on improving oversight of existing licensed providers. The pause on new home and community-based services licenses will start January 1, 2026, and is anticipated to last through December 31, 2027.
• New Jersey 
  • The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance issued guidance advising that it expects carriers to provide coverage for childhood immunizations recommended by the New Jersey Department of Health, including for the hepatitis B vaccination series, in accordance with state law and without cost-sharing or the imposition of additional barriers. Also, acting Health Commissioner Jeff Brown signed an executive directive protecting the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
  • New Jersey Human Services, in partnership with seven state agencies, announced the release of the New Jersey Direct Care Workforce Strategic Plan, a comprehensive roadmap to support, grow, and stabilize the workforce that provides essential care to older adults, individuals with disabilities, and residents with behavioral health needs.
• Nevada – Nevada submitted a request for an amendment to its demonstration, “Nevada’s Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders (OUDs) and Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) Transformation Project.” Nevada proposes to establish a mandatory specialty managed care delivery system through other authorities for children in the care and custody of the state, those receiving adoption subsidy assistance, and other children and youth who meet defined behavioral health clinical criteria. The amendment aims to narrow the managed care delivery system to a single managed care plan. 
• New York
  • Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to require general hospitals across the state to develop a language assistance program. The legislation requires every hospital’s language assistance program to include policies and procedures that ensure timely identification and ongoing access for patients in need of language assistance services, ongoing education and training for hospital staff, and the provision of skilled interpreters and other staff skilled in communication with vision and/or hearing-impaired individuals.
  • Governor Hochul signed legislation which requires health insurance policies to provide coverage for follow-up screening or diagnostic services for lung cancer, and prevents insurance policies from imposing cost-sharing for those services.
• North Carolina – Governor Josh Stein directed the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to restore Medicaid reimbursement rates to September 30, 2025, levels. The legislature’s failure to fully fund Medicaid forced cuts to the program in October, and the months-long budget stalemate between the legislative chambers has resulted in a wave of litigation against the state. Recent court orders made it untenable to continue with planned rate reductions, the announcement noted.
• Pennsylvania
  • The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) announced Governor Josh Shapiro’s recently signed 2025-2026 budget invests $6 million in new funding for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to support training and educational opportunities, recruit new EMS staff, and purchase new medical equipment for ambulances.
  • DOH is investing another $3 million to provide free period products to students in all of Pennsylvania’s school districts, career and technical centers, and brick-and-mortar charter schools. Building on last year’s investment, the Commonwealth has provided a total of $6 million to buy period products for school students.
• Wisconsin – Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced more than $159 million has been allocated for financial assistance through the Lead Service Line Replacement Program to 29 municipalities across the state to ensure Wisconsinites have access to clean, safe drinking water that is free of lead. The funding will help municipalities replace lead service lines, with a special focus on small and disadvantaged communities. 
• Colorado and New York – As open enrollment continues, SHVS has updated our expert perspective tracking 2026 State-Based Marketplace open enrollment data to include Colorado and New York, the most recent states to publish enrollment data for plan year 2026. SHADAC will continue to update the tracker over the course of open enrollment as more states publish enrollment numbers. 
• California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington – The West Coast Health Alliance announced that it strongly supports that hepatitis B vaccination continue to be routinely offered to all newborns within 24 hours of delivery. 
• Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin – A coalition of governors in seven states sent a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting nationwide monitoring of drinking water supplies for microplastics, with the goal of better understanding the occurrence of contamination in drinking water supplies. The petition requests that the EPA include microplastics in the 2027 renewal of the agency’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 6 (UCMR-6).