Weekly StateVitals Update: Volume 64 (April 13, 2026)
Kansas
Legislature Overrides Governor Kelly’s Veto of Two Abortion Bills. This past Thursday, the Kansas Legislature successfully gathered a two-thirds majority vote to override Governor Laura Kelly’s (D) veto on two abortion bills. Both legislative bodies voted along the same margins for both bills; the Senate voted 31-8, and the House voted 87-36 to enact HB 2729 and HB 2727 into law. Both bills center around how informed consent pertains to abortion care. HB 2729 requires physicians to use a standardized abortion informed consent form provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. HB 2727 allows plaintiffs who sue for a violation of abortion informed consent requirements to elect to limit recovery to $5,000 in statutory damages, plus recovery of amounts paid for the abortion and reasonable attorney fees. Moreover, if a plaintiff elects to limit recovery, the lawsuit becomes exempt from existing medical malpractice screening requirements. Regarding the prospective policy impact of the bills, Representative Heather Meyer (D-Overland Park) noted the bills could lead to additional litigation that challenges Kansas’s abortion statutes. Meyers stated the bills conflicted with a statewide vote in August 2022 to reject an amendment to the state constitution that would have made it easier to regulate or prohibit abortion in Kansas. Specifically, Kansans voted against nullifying a Kansas Supreme Court decision that found the state’s Bill of Rights’ reference to “bodily autonomy” established an individual’s fundamental right to end a pregnancy.
Louisiana
Federal Judge Places a Hold on Telehealth Abortion Pill Case. This past Tuesday, federal district court judge David Joseph issued a stay on a case challenging the legality of telehealth dispensing for mifepristone. In doing so, the district court agreed to grant the Trump Administration’s request to place a hold on the case while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completes a safety review of mifepristone. The lawsuit was originally filed by Attorney General Liz Murill (R) on October 6, 2025, who was joined by a woman claiming her boyfriend coerced her into taking mifepristone obtained from a California doctor. Together, they challenged a 2023 FDA change that removed in-person dispensing requirements, allowing mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth and delivered by mail order. In his ruling, Judge Joseph found that the FDA, and not the Court, had the expertise to evaluate the scientific evidence around the drug’s safety and make subsequent public health judgments. Notably, the ruling also provided that the state of Louisiana established injury and has standing to challenge the 2023 FDA change to mifepristone restrictions, a point that caused another case challenging mifepristone to be dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court now awaits the FDA to complete the safety review, which Judge Joseph ordered the agency to update the court on its progress in six months.
Governor Landry Establishes Office of Rural Health Transformation and Sustainability. Last Tuesday, Governor Jeff Landry (R) signed EO JML 26-032, which establishes the Office of Rural Health Transformation and Sustainability within the Louisiana Department of Health. The new office is supported by the $208 million the state received for the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program. The executive order highlights the key priorities the office will focus on: expanding the rural healthcare workforce, modernizing technology, innovating care delivery models, and improving coordination across health care services. These measures intend to reduce the burden of chronic disease, expand access to behavioral health services, improve maternal and infant health outcomes, and support earlier detection and treatment of serious conditions such as cancer.
Maine
Governor Mills Enacts Legislation Expanding Physician Associate Scope of Practice. Recently, Governor Janet Mills (D) signed LD 2088 into law. This bill expands physician associates’ scope of practice by eliminating the requirement for them to have a practice agreement with a physician when acting as the principal provider in a practice. Additionally, the bill further exempts physician associates by making consultations with associates and other health care professionals optional and removing the requirement for physicians to be accessible at all times for consultation. Several other states this session have deliberated bills that would impact physician assistants' practice agreements and supervision requirements, including Kentucky, Montana, Utah, and Virginia.
Legislature Enrolls Two Bills to Bolster Vaccine Access. Last week, members of the Maine House of Representatives enrolled two bills that aim to strengthen vaccine access, LD 2071 and LD 2146. LD 2071 would require MaineCare and private health insurance carriers to cover vaccines without cost-sharing, including off-label uses. The bill would also authorize pharmacists to prescribe, dispense, and administer all FDA-approved or authorized vaccines in accordance with specified age and recommendation guidelines. These recommendation guidelines are where LD 2146 comes in. If enacted, LD 2146 would remove references to the North East Public Health Collaborative and replace them with vaccine recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The bill would require the Maine Vaccine Board to consider these organizations’ vaccine recommendations when determining which to make available under the Universal Immunization Program. As it stands, legislators enrolled LD 2071 with concurrence in the Senate and placed LD 2146 on the special appropriations table, where it will compete with other bills for funds not specifically allocated in the budget.
Minnesota
Medicaid Fraud Bill Passes State and Local Government Committee. This past Tuesday, HF 2354 passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee. The legislation supported by Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) would expand the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and strengthen its investigative authority. Additionally, the bill would establish Medicaid fraud as a crime and enumerate penalties upon conviction. Following intense federal pressure and several suspected Medicaid fraud cases in the state, Minnesota legislators have introduced numerous bills this session to combat Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse. While this bill focuses more on the strengthening of fraud enforcement bodies and penalties, other common policy solutions across Minnesota and other states include implementing independent audits of high-risk services, requiring providers to report and act on any faulty payments, developing corrective action plans, and improving data analysis and information sharing. The bill now awaits consideration by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Nebraska
State opens Applications for Rural Health Workforce Incentive Program. Last Thursday, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced that applications for the state’s Rural Health Workforce Incentive program could be submitted starting April 15. The program intends to increase the number of healthcare providers in rural areas by incentivizing them to live in these communities. For the first year, around $20 million of funding will be available for awards ranging from $7,500 to $75,000 a year. The state plans to give out about 235 awards annually. Eligible providers must commit to working for five years at a Medicaid-accepting facility and either move from urban to rural areas or expand services to rural areas.
North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services Announces New Rural Health Transformation Program Director. On Monday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced Maggie Woods would be the state’s new Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) Director. North Carolina’s RHTP is currently supported by $213 million in federal funding. NCDHHS has indicated that a key component of the program’s implementation will be launching locally governed Rural Organizations Orchestrating Transformation for Sustainability, or NC ROOTS, hubs. The Department intends for the hubs to serve as regional networks that connect medical, behavioral health, and social supports for rural communities. Additionally, the state’s RHTP is aimed at expanding access to prevention services, chronic disease management, and nutrition programs, and increasing the availability of mental health and substance use disorder treatment. NCDHHS has stated that these efforts will be supported through investments and support for providers who transition to value-based care models.
Ohio
Rural Health Transformation Program Funding Released. This past Wednesday, Representative Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) announced that the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program had received funds and will be appropriated $202 million each fiscal year. The funding will be going toward the following 11 rural health initiatives, including: the rural health workforce pipeline, Healthier Ohio, Ohio health rural innovation hubs, Ohio rural school based health centers, OhioSEE rural expansion, rural health equipment, rural maternal health, rural health program implementation, rural health equipment, and a rural hospital training/technical assistance program. With this announcement, Ohio joins several states that have begun to appropriate funding and open applications under their rural health transformation programs.
Tennessee
House Enrolls Bill Setting Expiration Date on Hospital System’s COPA. Last Monday, the House enrolled SB 2414, which would allow a Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) for Ballad Health to expire in June 2028, ending Tennessee’s regulatory oversight of the system. Notably, last week, Directors of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Office of Policy Planning and Bureau of Competition and Economics issued a letter to Representative David Hawk (R - 5th District) warning of potential anticompetitive consequences if the COPA expired. Specifically, the FTC stated that by eliminating the COPA, the Tennessee Department of Health would no longer have supervision over Ballad Health’s service quality, availability of care, access to care, or population health initiatives. Additionally, the FTC clarified that while it generally recommends that state lawmakers not enact new COPA laws, repealing an existing law or allowing a COPA to expire without a competing healthcare system would enable a monopolist to exercise substantial market power. These consequences, the FTC advises, could lead patients to face higher healthcare costs and lower-quality care. For now, the bill has been sent back to the Senate for review of the House amendments.
Texas
Attorney General Launches Fraud Investigation into Medicaid Providers. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has launched a series of new investigations targeting Medicaid providers based on recently released data from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Attorney General issued a statement that his office has launched numerous investigations into providers, with a focus on home health and occupational therapy providers and other provider entities that potentially committed fraud related to COVID-19 treatments. Notably, this announcement comes after the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing last Wednesday to explore and recommend ways to prevent fraud and abuse in Medicaid. That committee is tasked with studying the issue ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
Utah
Case on Abortion Trigger Law Delayed Following Challenge to New Three-Judge Panel Law. In February and March, Governor Spencer Cox (R) signed into law HB 392 and HB 366 to create three-judge panels to hear constitutional challenges and grant either party to move a case from a district judge to a panel, while giving the Utah Supreme Court exclusive and original appellate jurisdiction over judgments or orders made by the panels. These laws were quickly passed by the legislature this session to avoid judge shopping, and following their enactment, the state filed to move a case against Utah’s 2020 abortion trigger law, which bans nearly all abortions, to one of the new panels. The move of the abortion case, along with three other cases, prompted the groups to file cases with the state supreme court challenging the constitutionality of the new panel laws.
Given the challenges to HB 392 and HB 366, the three-judge panel overseeing the abortion trigger law issued an order canceling the April 16, 2026, trial, after the parties waited nearly 18 months for it. The order stated that once the Utah Supreme Court resolves the petition, the parties may request a new date for the hearing, either before the panel or the originally assigned District Court Judge. Thus, as it stands, the Utah Supreme Court’s August 2024 decision to uphold a block of the trigger ban remains in place while a lower court assesses its constitutionality, and abortion remains legal in Utah up to 18 weeks of pregnancy.
