The Ticker

State Senate passes law to maintain no-cost coverage for services like well-child visits and immunizations by tying coverage standards to Washington state law rather than federal recommendations, which among other things recently ceased recommending several key vaccinations. The law already passed the Washington House of Representatives, so goes now to Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) for signing.

Promotes Michael Barber to director of the Division of Insurance’s Consumer Insurance Services section, which receives, investigates, and mediates insurance complaints. Barber has two decades of experience in the insurance industry and joined the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance in 2018 as a consumer insurance investigator.

Intends to shift from the federal HealthCare.gov health insurance exchange to a state-based exchange for 2028 open enrollment. Oklahoma Insurance Department Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs Ashley Scott will serve as the program’s director. Twenty-one other states currently manage their own exchanges, and two more have state-based exchanges that still rely on federal assistance to perform certain services such as enrollment.

Now allows insurance companies to consider sex and marital status when calculating policy premiums, following a March 2, 2026, ruling by Montana’s First District Court. The ruling was the conclusion to years of litigation against the constitutionality of a 2021 state law, HB 379, that repealed a 1985 law prohibiting insurance companies doing business in Montana from accounting for those two factors across all insurance lines of business. The court upheld HB 379 as constitutional in a summary judgment.

Announces several personnel updates within its Insurance Administration. Courtney Thornton is the new associate commissioner of property and casualty. Following 12 years as an attorney for insurance companies, Thornton most recently was lead senior counsel for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Brent Matthewson takes the new position of chief data officer. He previously held the same role at the Wellstar Health System. Sharon Fountain takes over as director of mental health parity and network adequacy after a four-year stint at the U.S. Department of Labor and almost 20 years at Bloomberg Industry.

Lawmakers are considering pharmacy benefit manager reform legislation.The Kansas Consumer Prescription Protection and Accountability Act would, among other measures,mandate that drug rebates bepassed along to health plans and insureds and prohibit spread pricing. The state Senate passed the bill by a 32-8 vote on Feb. 18; it was being considered by the state House of Representatives at press time.

Healthcare reform legislation filed in the state Senate in March could save employers, health plans, and policyholders at least $282 million over a half-decade, according to Delaware leaders. Measures in Senate Bill 1 include capping health plans’ cost per service at 250% of Medicare reimbursement levels for corresponding services starting in filing year 2028; requiring carriers to spend no less than 11.5% of total medical care expenses on primary care as of this year; requiring carriers to provide value-based care programs that are open to contracted providers. The bill was assigned to the Senate Health and Social Services Committee.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and State Assembly Insurance Committee Chair Lisa Calderon (D) have crafted legislation intended to improve the state FAIR fire insurance plan. Measures in the Make It FAIR Act include offering comprehensive homeowners coverage, eliminating the need for residential policyholders to obtain additional coverage for water damage, injury liability, and other risks; bringing on additional personnel to help meet higher operations and workload needs and more quickly deal with consumer claims and concerns; preparing an official climate risk assessment; and establishing a capital and liquidity management plan to address large-scale wildfires, storms, and other unanticipated disasters. The bill was referred to Calderon’s committee in late February. No additional action had occurred at deadline.