• California: Late last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a new law requiring insurance companies to pay for fertility coverage, which will grant millions of people in the state access to IVF treatments. The law also removes a requirement that patients try to "naturally" conceive for a year before they qualify for coverage, making fertility treatments accessible to same-sex couples. The bill's passage "is a personal and emotional victory," said state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D) who authored the bill. "And, it is a triumph for the many Californians who have been denied a path towards family-building because of the financial barriers that come with fertility treatment, their relationship status, or are blatantly discriminated against as a member of the LGBTQ+ community." According to a report from the California Health Benefits Review Program, the bill is predicted to raise premiums by over $182 million (0.12% increase) in the first year and $329 million in the second year (0.21% increase). Overall, this will equal a less than $4 increase in monthly premiums for most people. (Bluth, Politico, 9/29)
• Maryland: According to CMS' Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule for fiscal year 2025, Medicare will soon begin compensating hospitals for providing quality data to support "age friendly" medical care. Starting in January, hospitals will report several new measures that assess whether they're improving care for older patients in EDs, ORs, and other healthcare settings. Later, starting in fiscal year 2027, Medicare payment incentives for reporting these age-friendly measures will go into effect. According to Jill Sage, chief of quality affairs for the American College of Surgeons, there will likely be more emphasis on the older population through the Medicare system going forward. "Since improving care for older adults has been identified as a top national priority, this measure is just the first step in building out a more robust set of measures to improve care for the Medicare population, including looking at rolling out outcome measures in the future," Sage said. (Early, Modern Healthcare, 9/25)
• New York: Mount Sinai Health System is partnering with the health platform Noom to address chronic diseases, particularly obesity. According to Crain's New York Business/Modern Healthcare, the organizations want to open a two-way referral channel to help fill gaps in treatment created from the surge in tech startups offering nontraditional healthcare services. "All these apps are really exciting but at the end of the day they tend to just be continuing to fragment and silo health care because they actually don't connect into ongoing care," said Lauren Lisher, SVP of Mount Sinai Solutions. Under the partnership, Mount Sinai doctors can refer select patients to download the Noom Weight app to address eating habits. Meanwhile, the Noom app will direct users to Mount Sinai specialists who work in weight loss and allow patients to track their progress between visits. According to Lisher, patients will be responsible for Noom's membership fee, which can range from $70 a month to $209 annually. Patients referred to Mount Sinai will have any services to billed to insurance. The two companies will have no direct financial exchange under the partnership, Lisher said. (Geringer-Sameth, Crain's New York Business/Modern Healthcare, 9/25)

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