The Regulator

Illinois just became the first Midwestern state where doctors can prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill adults, after a federal judge refused three days ago to block the law from taking effect today. U.S. District Judge John Tharp ruled September 10, 2026 that a coalition of disability rights advocates, patients and a physician, led by paralyzed Chicago resident Ebony Payne, failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm under Illinois’ End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLA), which took effect September 12, 2026. The plaintiffs argued the law discriminates against people with disabilities and lacks adequate oversight, warning doctors could pressure vulnerable patients toward lethal medication; Tharp rejected that as speculation, noting EOLA limits eligibility to adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live, bars physicians from raising the option unprompted, and lets doctors decline to participate without discipline. Plaintiffs have 30 days to respond to a motion to dismiss, and a separate suit over religious health systems’ objections to the law remains pending, with both cases potentially headed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Confidence: Medium-High. This run relied on news coverage that quoted Judge Tharp’s ruling directly; the underlying court order was not independently retrieved. Sources: Judge declines to block Illinois’ ‘medical aid in dying’ law ahead of Sept. 12 start, KFVS12, Federal Judge Rejects Bid to Block Illinois’ ‘Medical Aid in Dying’ Law Days Before it Takes Effect, WTTW Chicago News.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just created a new device category for cardiovascular artificial intelligence software, setting the rules future devices in that class must follow to reach the market. FDA published a final order in the Federal Register September 11, 2026 classifying “cardiovascular machine learning-based notification software,” AI tools that flag possible cardiovascular abnormalities for clinicians, into Class II, the agency’s middle-risk device tier that requires special controls rather than the costlier premarket approval process reserved for higher-risk devices. The order took effect the same day it published, though FDA notes the classification traces back to when the first such device was cleared through the de novo pathway in August 2023; going forward, other manufacturers building similar cardiovascular notification software can follow this lower-cost Class II route instead of filing a new de novo request. Confidence: High. This run reviewed FDA’s Federal Register order directly. Sources: Medical Devices; Cardiovascular Devices; Classification of the Cardiovascular Machine Learning-Based Notification Software, Federal Register.

Wednesday was the deadline for state Medicaid programs to apply for a federal model that lets them buy certain drugs at the same prices other wealthy countries pay, instead of negotiating discounts state by state. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) set September 10, 2026 as the final, twice-extended deadline for state Medicaid agencies to apply to its GENEROUS Model (GENErating cost Reductions fOr U.S. Medicaid), a voluntary five-year program running through 2030 that pegs Medicaid drug prices to a most-favored-nation benchmark drawn from other developed countries in exchange for states adopting standardized coverage criteria CMS negotiates centrally. CMS pushed the state deadline back twice, from July 31, citing overwhelming interest from drug manufacturers, whose own application and agreement deadlines were separately extended to June 11 and July 17, 2026; participating states must now finalize their agreements with CMS by September 30, 2026. CMS has not yet disclosed which states applied or how many drugs will be covered. Confidence: Medium. This run relied on CMS’s own program notices and a KFF policy explainer; CMS has not yet published post-deadline participation figures. Sources: CMS Extends Deadlines for GENEROUS Model Applications for Drug Manufacturers and States, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, A Look at the GENEROUS Model and Factors That Could Impact Medicaid Drug Costs, KFF.

The group that sets the codes insurers use to pay medical bills released next year’s list this week, and it will shape what hospitals, doctors and artificial intelligence software vendors can charge for in 2027. The American Medical Association (AMA) released the 2027 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set September 9, 2026, adding 299 new billing codes that take effect January 1, 2027. Ten of the new codes cover artificial intelligence applications, bringing the total number of AI-specific CPT codes to 43, and the update separately restructures maternity care billing into four distinct phases, antepartum, labor management, delivery and postpartum, after nearly two years of work between the AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Because CPT codes determine what Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers will reimburse for a given service, the new code set effectively sets next year’s menu of billable AI and maternity services before most providers and payers finalize their 2027 contracts. Confidence: High. This run reviewed the AMA’s own CPT 2027 code set materials directly. Sources: CPT 2027 Maternity Care Services Code Changes, American Medical Association.

Pennsylvania’s insurance regulator told reporters this week it cannot simply block the double-digit health insurance rate increases insurers want for 2027, even as tens of thousands of residents have already dropped marketplace coverage over expiring federal subsidies. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) said in reporting published September 11, 2026 that state law does not let it “uniformly freeze” rate increases, only reject individual filings that lack sufficient justification, something experts could not recall the department having done recently. Insurers are asking for average 2027 increases of 17.1 percent in the individual market and 11.5 percent in the small group market, with Ambetter Health of Pennsylvania’s request running as high as 40.9 percent; nearly 202,000 people have canceled Pennie marketplace plans over the past nine months as enhanced federal premium tax credits lapse. PID expects to release final, binding 2027 rates before open enrollment begins November 1. Confidence: Medium-High. This run relied on direct reporting of PID’s statements and the department’s own July 2026 rate-filing announcement; a standalone PID statement describing its statutory authority was not independently located. Sources: Pa. regulators say they’re limited on insurance rate hikes, Spotlight PA, Shapiro Administration Receives Proposed 2027 Health Insurance Rates, Pennsylvania Insurance Department.