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Maryland’s dominant health insurer, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, plans to raise rates for certain plans by about 8% for people buying their own coverage next year, a potential effect of the coronavirus pandemic. Other consumers may see price breaks, as some insurers have said they could continue cutting premiums as they have largely been doing for the past three years. (Cohn, 6/15)

The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday asked a federal judge to prevent Arkansas from enforcing its ban on gender confirming treatments for transgender youth while a lawsuit challenging the prohibition proceeds. The ACLU requested a preliminary injunction against the new law, which is set to take effect on July 28. It will prohibit doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18 years old, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. (DeMillo, 6/15)

Ohio medical professionals would be allowed to refuse to perform abortions if it’s against their religious beliefs, according to a subtle, last-minute amendment tucked away in the $75 billion budget adopted by the state Senate. The measure, which was tacked onto the spending bill, is being hailed by anti-abortion rights groups that say it would allow doctors to abide by their moral standards. (Hampton, 6/15)

A new alternative to marijuana spreading across the United States remains unregulated in Michigan, but one state representative wants to change that. State Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, has introduced a bill that would bring this new kind of weed into the fold of the state's definition of marijuana, making it a hot new commodity that'll be sold only in reputable dispensaries near you to those 18 or older. “We did a lot of work on this bill with various sectors of the cannabis community, along with the cannabis vendor community, and even alongside the hemp community," Rabhi said. "We got much approval from those entities." (Fogel, 6/16)

During the pandemic, Mark Switaj has been mindful of how he talks about mental health with his employees. Switaj, the CEO of a medical transportation and technology company called Roundtrip, openly shared about times he struggled to sleep or “wasn’t in the right mindset” during companywide meetings. He knew that as a leader, destigmatizing discussions about mental health in the workplace started at the top. Roundtrip, with offices in Philadelphia and Richmond, Va., provides staff with mental health resources through Fringe, a system where workers can spend points on lifestyle benefits such as babysitting or streaming subscriptions. After Switaj noticed no one took time off during the pandemic, he implemented half-day Fridays every other week. And the company is slowly bringing its roughly 45 employees back to offices, with plenty of feedback from teams. (Ao and Hetrick, 6/15)

In 2016, Brooks Rainey Pearson and her husband decided that they wanted to become foster parents. They didn’t have any children of their own, but they wanted to provide a welcoming home for children whose home lives were unstable. The couple took the classes required by Durham County and completed the training hours necessary to become foster parents. (Dougani, 6/16)