Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) requests $50 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to pay for extra hospital beds across the state; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) requests $40 million in new ARPA funding to support hospital staffing.

In recent weeks, several states passed legislation related to the COVID-19 public health crisis, including bills establishing vaccination authority, patient rights, and data reporting requirements. Utah on April 10 will lift its statewide mask mandate.

As the country works to expand COVID-19 through testing, every state has submitted a testing strategy to the federal government. Most state plans prioritize vulnerable populations and offer testing for uninsured individuals.

Virginia and Washington have paused proposals to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage for low-income women, due to budget constraints resulting from the pandemic. States are engaged in contact tracing to curb the spread of COVID-19, and 24 states enacted budgetary measures related to the emergency.

Newly approved state plan amendments in Alabama, Arizona, Minnesota, Washington, and Wyoming aim to increase flexibility to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new analysis finds that the evolving drug overdose crisis has wide, varying effects across states and that there has been an uptick in non-opioid illicit drug overdoses.

Leaders in Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin have expressed interest in allowing individuals who cannot afford private health insurance to buy into the Medicaid program if they are otherwise ineligible.