Short session bills could change premium cap, lawmakers flag multiple plan impacts

Commission staff briefed the State Employee Health Commission on pending legislation in the 2026 short session that could affect plan cost and coverage. The session (statutory adjournment April 15) will focus on emergency and carry‑over bills; staff highlighted LD 2148, which proposes changing the premium cap formula (CPI+3% to CPI+10% in the introduced language) but, per the report, is likely to pass with at least a 6% cap effective July 1, 2027. Multiple plan‑specific bills (LD 328; LD 467) and mandate/benefit bills (LD 107 — biomarker testing; LD 582 — blood testing for PFAS; LD 1502 — prostate cancer screening updates) were listed with committee statuses and fiscal estimates where available.

Staff also summarized bills arising from the Commission to Evaluate Health Transactions, including several (LD 2189–LD 2202; LD 2190) that would change notification, review and transaction‑approval processes. Public hearings on several transaction and Certificate of Need (CON) items were scheduled for Feb. 18. Commission materials included fiscal notes where provided (for example, LD 107 was placed on a special appropriations table with estimated FY26/27 costs of approximately $1.2M; LD 582’s FY26/27 cost was estimated at $90K).