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This past year, lawmakers in the Delaware Valley pursued changes to health care policies and regulations that will expand access to prescription drug savings, ensure coverage for breast cancer imaging, reaffirm lead testing requirements, increase breastfeeding support in prisons and more.

Here are some new health care laws coming to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware that will be in place or take effect in 2026.

Pennsylvania

Medicaid coverage for weight loss medication

The Pennsylvania state budget increases funding in several areas, but will cut costs by limiting coverage for glucagon-like peptide-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound for people in the Medicaid insurance program beginning Jan. 1.

The state’s Medicaid program, called Medical Assistance, will no longer cover GLP-1 drugs solely for obesity and weight loss, but will continue to do so for people with diabetes and other health conditions.

Pennsylvania started paying for GLP-1 drugs for obesity in 2023. But the cost to the state rose as an increasing number of enrollees obtained prescriptions.

The commonwealth spent $650 million for GLP-1 drugs in Medicaid, for all reasons, in 2024, according to state officials. Lawmakers estimate it would soon cost over $1 billion annually.

Naloxone distribution by emergency responders

Emergency responders like emergency medical service workers can leave packages of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication, with families and caregivers at the site of a 911 call or other treatment response.

The law codifies an executive order signed by former Gov. Tom Wolfe in 2018, which established a standing order allowing emergency responders to not only use naloxone to reverse an overdose, but to leave additional doses with others at the scene.

However, executive orders are temporary and can expire or be reversed by a sitting governor. The new law now makes this policy permanent and strengthens protections for EMS workers.

The legislation also increases transparency in prescription prices and costs. When asked by a customer, pharmacists must disclose the current retail price for band name and generic versions of any medication being picked up.

They also must help customers and patients figure out their out-of-pocket costs for brand-name and generic options.

All parts of the law will be in effect by July 2026.

Prescription savings programs for seniors

Seniors who save money on their prescriptions through state assistance programs will get to stay in those programs even if their annual incomes go over the eligibility limits because of a bump in their Social Security payments.

A law passed this year ensures that Social Security cost-of-living adjustments will not disqualify someone from participating in the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly and the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly Needs Enhancement Tier program.

The moratorium on Social Security cost-of-living adjustment income increases will last from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2027.

“The PACE and PACENET programs play an important role in supporting older adults and offering tremendous savings by helping them pay for their prescription medications,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich said in a statement. “This new law will allow older Pennsylvanians to remain eligible for this benefit which provides them with lifesaving medication and a cost savings to their fixed incomes.”

Diagnostic mammogram and breast cancer imaging

A new law requires insurers to cover follow-up testing for women who need additional imaging after an abnormal mammogram, including an MRI or ultrasound.

While annual mammograms are fully covered by insurance, additional diagnostic testing can come with high costs, which cancer activists say can delay an early diagnosis of breast cancer.

The expanded coverage will apply to insurance plans and policies that are issued or renewed starting summer 2026.

“With early detection and diagnostic imaging, we have the tools to limit the harm caused by cancer and the suffering it brings to families across the Commonwealth,” Donna Greco, Pennsylvania government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said in a statement.

A Pennsylvania couple is accused of living with their dead relative for months to reap the benefits of his Social Security checks. 

The Greene Washington Regional Police Department said James and Debbie Bebout of Canton Township were arrested in the death of James Bebout’s brother, Michael Bebout. 

Police paperwork details allegations

According to police paperwork, authorities received a call on Jan. 16 from James Bebout, who said he went to serve his brother breakfast when he found him “stiff as a board.” When officers arrived at the home on Hayes Avenue for a welfare check, DeForte said several red flags were raised.

“Instead of finding the decedent that would have passed away within the last 24 hours, we found the decedent in a state of severe decomposition,” DeForte said.

DeForte said an investigation revealed Michael Bebout had been dead for about six months.

“You have two defendants that we believe knew the decedent had passed that were more interested in reaping the benefits of a governmental check and access to a warm home than they were providing some type of moral and ethical solution to their relative passing,” DeForte said.

During an interview with Debbie Bebout, investigators said she allegedly admitted to knowing Michael Bebout had been dead since around October but did not contact anybody.

“Debbie stated she cashed several of Michael’s $1,200/month Social Security checks in order to pay for food. Debbie stated she was concerned about getting kicked out of the house if Michael was known to have died,” police paperwork stated.

“What we found throughout the investigation was roughly a half a dozen Social Security checks that were cashed by the defendants,” DeForte said.

During an interview with police, Debbie Bebout later admitted to officers that she “actually noticed that her brother-in-law, Michael Bebout, dead around Labor Day 2024.”

She also allegedly told officers that she pretended to take care of Michael Bebout every day so her husband would not find out.

Neighbors say it smelled “awful” outside the home

“We believe, through our investigation, that both defendants were well aware that the decedent was decomposing in the house with them. The smell was so pungent that you could smell it outside of the home prior to entry,” DeForte.

Neighbors described the couple as “bad news” and said that they knew something was wrong when it began to smell outside.

“We smelled an awful smell. We called the gas company, thinking it was a gas leak. Here, it wasn’t a gas leak. It was him. They always had a window cracked, to let the smell out, apparently,” Samuel Burgess said.

Burgess said he was friends with Michael Bebout and knew he had been sick before his death.

“He was a sweetheart. He would do anything for anyone. He would give you his last dollar, his shoes, his shirt, anything. He was a perfect gentleman,” Burgess said.

Dead animals found inside home

Burgess said Michael Bebout had a dog that he loved that also lived in the home.

“There was a little dog. I don’t know what happened to the little dog. He might be in there dead also, yeah, because Michael had a little black puppy dog,” Burgess said.

DeForte said that several dead animals were found inside the home.

“When we conducted the welfare check, we had noticed dead animals that were also severely decomposed throughout the house, that would also have been accompanied by a lot of garbage. A lot of clutter,” DeForte said.

“To have something like this happen in society today is an absolute violation of the human construct. This is both morally and ethically reprehensible,” DeForte said. “In over three decades of my law enforcement career, I have never witnessed something as macabre as what we saw inside of that residence.”