The expansion of the state's Medi-Cal program will provide health care coverage for an additional 764,000 people by 2024.

Ten states and the District of Columbia no longer report their COVID-19 data on a daily basis.

Several states have reached or surpassed President Joe Biden's goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the U.S. adult population by July 4. However, other states lag behind; in 15 states, less than half the adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In response to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for fully vaccinated people, several states, including Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, have lifted their statewide mask mandates.

States are expanding requirements for hospitals to report their bed capacity and supply inventory, and readying facilities to expand capacity to treat patients with COVID-19. CMS has approved Section 1135 waivers for 38 states.

With expected gridlock between our new divided Congress, states could be the ones to drive major health policy activity in 2019.