Weekly StateVitals Update: Volume 56 (February 17, 2026)

National

• Trump Administration Proposes to Cut $600 million in Public Health Grants and States Sue in Response. Recently, the Trump Administration shared proposed cuts to public health grants in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. The grants come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and were awarded to state public health departments, municipal agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofits. The grants were awarded for various purposes, including workforce initiatives, STI prevention, and health equity. The Administration stated that the grants are inconsistent with agency priorities. On Thursday, the four Democratic-led states filed a motion in federal court to block the cuts, arguing they impose retroactive conditions on funding. 

California

• Governor Approves $90 Million in Grants for Family Planning Providers. Last week, the legislature passed, and Governor Newsom (D) signed SB 106 to amend the state budget to provide the $90 million in one-time funding for grants to family planning providers, including Planned Parenthood. The funds are in response to language in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, targeted at Planned Parenthood, that prohibits Medicaid funding to reproductive health care providers who provide abortions. Republicans opposed the measure in the Legislature, arguing that such funding should be directed to rural hospitals. 

Delaware

• Legislature Passes Resolution to Develop Statewide Perinatal Mental Healthcare System. Recently, members of Delaware’s legislature passed HCR 82, which directed the Behavioral Health Consortium to produce a comprehensive report on the state of perinatal mental health. Delaware has a relatively weak maternal mental health system, which the state intends to strengthen by focusing the analysis on service gaps and workforce shortages and developing recommendations for improving access to perinatal resources. The report is now in development and is scheduled to be submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2026. 

Iowa

• Effort to Reform Subacute Mental Health Care Continues. This last week, a subcommittee in the Iowa House Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing and adopted HF 2220. The measure would most notably repeal the existing statute that has a current administrative interpretation that stays at subacute facilities are not to exceed 10 days. Among other provisions, the bill would notably also: 

  • Require subacute mental health care facilities to develop a written­ treatment care plan with a resident within 24 hours of the ­resident’s admission to the facility.

  • Prohibit a preauthorization requirement for an individual’s admission to a subacute mental health care facility or for the first 15 days of a resident’s treatment.

  • Require the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to establish an electronic system to track the availability of beds at each psychiatric medical institution for children.

  There is a Senate study bill (S. 3083) that includes similar provisions and is currently sitting available for floor consideration. It’s expected that the House full Committee will undertake consideration of HF 2220 in the coming weeks. 

• Subcommittee Advances Abortion Medication Restrictions. This past week, a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee opted to recommend passage of Senate Study Bill 3115. The measure would require abortion medications to be administered or prescribed in person, and requires a physician to provide patient-specific information and obtain informed consent before providing an abortion-inducing drug, including possible medical risks and abortion medication reversal. Some of the required disclosure elements have been argued by opponents as being medically inaccurate. The intent of the bill is to limit the provision of abortion medications, such as mifepristone and misoprostol, from being provided via telehealth and mail-order from out-of-state. The bill now moves before the full Judiciary Committee for consideration. 

Louisiana

• 5th Circuit Upholds 340B Contract Pharmacy Law. This past week, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling to uphold Louisiana’s enacted 340B contract pharmacy law. Similar to a myriad of other states, the Louisiana law prohibits drug companies from denying hospitals the same 340B discounts for drugs dispensed at community pharmacies that would have otherwise been provided through their in-hospital pharmacies. The court relied on similar rationales utilized in other similar litigation in that state governments are the regulators of pharmacies and the distribution of drugs to those pharmacies. The Court found that, as a result, the law, as argued by manufacturers, did not violate the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, the Constitution’s Contract Clause, nor was the state law preempted by federal law. 

Minnesota

• Department of Human Services Advances Automated Medicaid Pre-Payment Review System. Last week, the Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that the state had been developing an automated system to review fee-for-service Medicaid claims before they were paid, while identifying which claims needed additional review.  To build the system, the developer reviewed nearly four years of claims within 14 high-risk service areas. During the first 90 days, initial reports revealed patterns in claims for Early Intensive Developmental Behavioral Intervention services that did not align with the state’s policies. While no fraud was confirmed, the pre-payment review system will continue to be developed over the next 9 months. DHS expects that the system will be fully implemented by the end of 2026.

New Mexico

• Medical Malpractice Bill Starts to Move. This past week, HB 99 was adopted unanimously in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill is a medical malpractice reform bill and intends to authorize caps for punitive damages in such litigation to approximately $900,000 for independent physicians, $1 million for independent outpatient clinics, and $6 million for locally owned and operated hospitals. Those same cap amounts would apply for most compensatory damages, too. The bill, as currently adopted by the committee, would also create a higher tier of authorized caps for large hospitals and hospital-controlled outpatient facilities at two and a half times the limit established for locally owned hospitals. While the Governor remains supportive of the bill and intends to sign it if it reaches her desk, the bill must still be passed by the full House and make its way through the Senate before the Legislature adjourns at the end of next week. 

New York

• Some ASCs Expected to Receive Additional Flexibility to Perform Coronary Interventions. This next week, the New York State Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) is expected to consider a regulatory policy change that would authorize certain ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) to perform coronary interventions. To qualify as an ASC that meets such a requirement, the ASC must be affiliated with a New York general hospital. Existing regulations have prohibited ASCs from performing such interventions with the intent to confine oversight specific to general hospital settings. However, given recent volume trends of such interventions and the minimally invasive nature of such interventions, the PHHPC is likely to adjust policy to align with approximately 20 other states that allow such interventions in ambulatory settings. 

South Dakota

• Governor Rhoden Signs Bills to Enhance Emergency Medical Services. Last Monday, Gov. Rhoden (R) signed HB 1023 and HB 1024, which aim to promote more collaboration and improve staffing for emergency medical services. The bills establish requirements and liability protections for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses providing care on ambulance crews and expand the definition of “ambulance operator” to include firefighters and law enforcement. As the bills progressed through the legislature, lawmakers highlighted the need for the legislation in rural areas.  

Utah

• Ivermectin Bill Stalls in Committee. This past week, the House Health and Human Services Committee failed to advance legislation (HB 96) to authorize the sale of ivermectin without a prescription. Four Republicans, including the Committee Chair Katy Hall, joined Democrats in voting against the bill. The bill was also opposed by the Utah Medical Association and the Utah Nurses Association. Ivermectin is an antiparasitic medication that has been promoted by conservatives as an alternative treatment for COVID-19, though it is not FDA-approved for such use. In recent years, Republican-led states have passed similar bills, and currently under consideration in Florida. 

Virginia

• Governor Spanberger Signs Bill to Send Reproductive Rights to Ballot. Last week, Gov. Spanberger (D) signed HB 781, which proposes a constitutional amendment to establish a fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Under this freedom, Virginians would be able to make decisions regarding perinatal care, contraception, abortion, and fertility care. Additionally, the amendment would prohibit penalizing people based on their pregnancy outcomes or for assisting another person in exercising their right. Notably, the amendment would still allow for some restrictions on abortion, where the state would be permitted to regulate care in the third trimester unless the treatment is necessary or the fetus is unviable. This amendment, along with several other measures, will be placed on the midterm ballot in November.

Wisconsin

• Governor Highlights Healthcare Affordability as a 2026 Priority. Last Wednesday, Governor Evers (D) released his 2026 agenda to lower everyday out-of-pocket healthcare costs for Wisconsin families and seniors, prevent prescription drug price gouging, and crack down on health insurers. The Governor highlighted the need for reforms due to rising costs related to the end of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, declining ACA enrollment, and federal Medicaid cuts, and called for the legislature to pass support for various healthcare measures, including:

  • Establishing the Office of Prescription Drug Affordability and Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board to regulate drug pricing.

  • Capping insulin copays at $35 per month.

  • Requiring pharmacy benefit managers to owe a fiduciary duty to insurers and other payers with whom they contract. 

  • Creating a process for auditing insurers when claims denial rates are too high. 

  • Enacting prior authorization reforms and prohibiting prior authorization for inpatient mental health services.

  Governor Evers likely faces an uphill battle in getting his agenda passed by the Republican-controlled legislature, though in January, Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R) also highlighted healthcare affordability as a priority, so there may be opportunities for bipartisan efforts. 

Wyoming

• House Advances Medicaid Reimbursement for Birthing Centers. This past week, the House of Representatives passed HB 4 which intends to ensure that Medicaid will reimburse qualifying birthing centers for services rendered for pregnant women and during labor and delivery. The move comes after birthing centers have increased in frequency across the state given low access rates in frontier parts. The intent is to help sustain access to services for low risk deliveries. In the status quo, proponents have claimed that such birthing centers have to eat approximately $4,000 to $5,000 per Medicaid enrollee that they provide services to. This would enable that gap on lost cost to shrink significantly. The measure is now over in the Senate for consideration.

For additional information and updates on state activity this past week relative to state COVID-19 vaccine guidance, StateVitals Subscribers can check out our guidance tracker.