advocacy
State Advocacy
We’re focused on policies to strengthen Delaware’s healthcare workforce, ensure healthcare access, quality, and affordability, and advance health equity.
Federal Advocacy
Amid federal uncertainty, Delaware needs a key roadmap to a robust healthcare workforce, an accessible and high-quality healthcare system, and healthier communities.
153rd General Assembly
Follow the Delaware Healthcare Association’s legislative tracker for Delaware General Assembly issues.
Table Key:
Green - Approved/ Signed
Yellow - Pending
Blue - Pass
| Bill Name | Bill Status | Description | DHA Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Bill 3 | Signed into law | Creates a breastfeeding and lactation program within the Department of Correction to provide lactation support to women in DOC custody | Support |
| SS 1 for Senate Bill 5 | House Committee | First leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to ensure that every Delawarean is afforded reproductive freedom. | |
| Senate Bill 12 | Signed into law | This legislation is the Delaware Pre-Authorization Reform Act of 2025 | Support |
| House Bill 21 | Signed into law | Bans the sale of Tianeptine (gas station heroin) in the state by identifying it as a Schedule 1 controlled substance | Support |
| SS 1 for Senate Bill 21 | Signed into law | Makes important updates to Delaware’s General Corporation Law. | Support |
| Senate Bill 27 | Senate Committee | Establishes the Office of New Americans to help improve the lives and economic prosperity of new Americans who come to Delaware and of all Delawareans generally | |
| House Bill 36 | Signed into law | Aligns the narrower non-discrimination laws with the applicable broad non-discrimination law by also prohibiting discrimination on any other basis protected under the applicable broad law. | |
| SS 2 for Senate Bill 41 | Senate Committee | Bans the manufacture, sale, delivery, distribution, holding with the intent to sell, and offering for sale in Delaware of food that contains Red dye 3 (CAS no. 16424-68-0) | |
| House Bill 42 | House Committee | Relates to the multi-disciplinary response and oversight of human trafficking cases involving children. | Support |
| Senate Bill 45 | Out of Senate Committee | Adds a new crime of application insurance fraud under the criminal code to include fraudulent statements submitted in support of an application to obtain or renew insurance or for purposes of obtaining a commission or payment from an insurer. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 46 | House Committee | Relates to parental notification for abortion services. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 48 | Passed General Assembly | Adds provisions to Title 21 to better regulate, define, and enforce accessible parking spaces in Delaware. | |
| House Bill 53 | Signed into law | Broadens the scope of a special fund administered by the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing that provides telecommunications assistance. | Support |
| House Bill 54 | Signed into law | Establishes the Office of Suicide Prevention within the Department of Health and Social Services’ (DHSS) Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) | Support |
| Senate Bill 55 | Senate Committee | Prohibits gender transition surgery for children and disciplines healthcare providers that provide or refer a child for care. | Opposed |
| House Bill 56 | Signed into law | Requires health insurance plans (state and private) cover medically necessary removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue, including panniculectomies. | Support |
| House Bill 58 | Out of House Committee | Related to detention and arrest based on citizenship and immigration status. | |
| Senate Bill 67 | Out of Senate Committee | Codifies that a criminal history report obtained by a home-care agency, hospice agency, or personal assistance services agency through the BCC’s criminal screening process is valid for three years from the date of the applicant’s fingerprinting. | |
| Senate Bill 69 | Signed into law | Prohibits a school district or charter school from selling or serving breakfast, lunch or competitive food on campus. during the school day that contains the color additive Red dye 40. | |
| House Bill 70 | Signed into law | Requires that all rental units constructed before January 1, 1978 are certified as lead free or lead safe by a specific deadline. | |
| Senate Bill 70 | Signed into law | Allows licensed genetic counselors to order genetic tests. | Support |
| Senate Bill 71 | Signed into law | Creates a special open enrollment period for persons who are already enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy or certificate to cancel and purchase a new plan. | |
| Senate Bill 72 | Signed into law | Requires DPH to create a website where Delaware residents can find out the level of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” in their public drinking water systems. Also requires DPH to notify public water utilities if the PFAS in their water exceeds certain limit. | |
| House Bill 75 | Senate Committee | Addressing child sexual abuse civil claims. | |
| Senate Bill 77 | Senate Committee | Prohibits the sale of electronic smoking devices and nicotine vapor products that are not included in a directory of manufacturers and products eligible to be sold in the state. | |
| House Bill 84 | House Committee | Prohibits employers from requiring employees to participate in mandatory meetings or communications that are religious or political in nature. | |
| House Bill 87 | Signed into law | Expands membership to the Delaware Suicide Prevention Coalition. | Support |
| Senate Bill 87 | Out of Senate Committee | Requires local governments to permit Accessory dwelling units (in-law units or garage apartments) to increase Delaware’s housing supply. | Support |
| HS 1 for House Bill 91 | Signed into law | Further expands free breakfasts in schools participating in the federal School Breakfast Program by making them available to all students, regardless of household income, but does not expand free lunch income eligibility. | |
| Senate Bill 92 | Signed into law | The Uniform Law Commission found that the word “other” was added in error to the final Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. | |
| Senate Bill 93 | Signed into law | Updates the terminology used to describe or citations used to reference those who make financial or healthcare decisions on behalf of a principal or individual, including when that principal or individual lacks capacity. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 94 | Out of House Committee | Restricts law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies conducting civil immigration enforcement activities at health-care facilities without permission from the Attorney General. | |
| Senate Bill 94 | Out of Senate Committee | Updates the Respiratory Care Advisory Council to the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline’s to allow qualified licensed respiratory therapists to perform all duties associated with extracorporeal life support. | Support |
| House Bill 100 | House Committee | Governor Carney’s Fiscal Year 26 Budget. | |
| Senate Bill 101 | Signed into law | Expands the definition of “patient-practitioner relationship” to include practitioners and patients, that provide and seek treatment for, opioid use disorder. | |
| Senate Bill 104 | Senate Committee | Requires the managing entities of certain buildings acquire and place at least 6 trauma kits in a clearly visible, centrally located, and accessible area. | |
| House Bill 105 | Signed into law | Requires that employers (of 11 or more employees) include salary or wage range information in all postings for job opportunities, both internally and externally. | Neutral |
| Senate Bill 107 | Signed into law | Enacts the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists, designed to facilities the interstate practice of school psychologist in school settings | |
| SS 1 for Senate Bill 109 | Signed into law | Enters Delaware into the Social Work Licensure Compact. | Support |
| Senate Bill 110 | Out of House Committee | Extends the deadline from 30 to 90 days that a physical therapist may treat an individual without a referral. | Support |
| House Bill 125HS 2 for House Bill 111 | Out of House Committee | Prohibits food establishments from providing any single-use food service items - exempts non-profits and healthcare settings. | |
| House Bill 115 | House Committee | Prohibits discrimination based on weight, height, or body size in transportation, public accommodation, housing, commerce and trade, employment, jury selection, education, and public administration. | |
| Senate Bill 117 | Senate Committee | Increases the minimum required coverage for hearing aids. | |
| House Bill 118 | Signed into law | Allows for Exceptional Care for Children (ECC) to continue receiving an exemption from the nursing facility quality assessment. | |
| Senate Bill 120 | Senate Committee | Requires that individual, group, State employee, and public assistance insurance plans provide coverage for biomarker testing. | |
| Senate Bill 122 | Signed into law | Directs the Division of Professional Regulation to collect health care workforce-related data during the licensing or renewal processes. | Support |
| House Bill 125 | House Committee | Expands free meals to all public school students in schools participating in the federal School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs, regardless of household income. | |
| Senate Bill 125 | Signed into law | Updates the Board of Dietetics/Nutrition enabling act, requiring applicants to obtain a minimum of a master’s degree to obtain a license. | |
| House Bill 126 | House Committee | Exempts from state income tax any income received by a full-time hourly wage-paid employee for overtime work performed in excess of 40 hours in a week. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 128 | Signed into law | Makes clarifying changes for the implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. | |
| Senate Bill 128 | Senate Committee | Requires DHSS to submit a Medicaid State Plan Amendment to CMS to be allowed to provide comprehensive dental benefits to Medicaid-eligible adults. | Support |
| Senate Bill 129 | Signed into law | Related to Opioid Settlement Funds and ongoing litigation. | |
| SS 1 for Senate Bill 130 | Out of House Committee | This act prohibits retail stores and wholesalers from selling, distributing, or offering for sale expanded polystyrene foam products. | |
| Senate Bill 131 | Signed into law | Allows dental hygienist to administer anesthesia. | |
| SS 1 for Senate Bill 134 | Signed into law | Modernizes the definition of reverse auctions and allows for the Section to use reverse auctions in the procurement of professional services. | |
| Senate Bill 135 | Senate Committee | Creates the Grants -In-Aid Committee. | |
| House Bill 135 | House Committee | Includes key definitions related to homelessness and provides protections for individuals experience homelessness related to utilizing public spaces for dwelling. | |
| Senate Bill 138 | Signed into law | Updates the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) Board of Directors. | Support |
| Senate Bill 139 | Signed into law | This act provides protections and rights to victims of sexual assault. | |
| House Bill 140 | Passed General Assembly | Legalizes medical aid in dying also known as end of life options for terminally ill individuals. | No Position |
| Senate Bill 146 | Out of Senate Committee | This act requires the Department of Health and Social Services to post existing materials on type 1 diabetes to their website. | |
| Senate Bill 147 | Senate Committee | This act adopts the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. | |
| House Bill 148 | Signed into law | This act updates the Board of Nursing’s enabling act. | |
| House Bill 149 | Signed into law | Gives DPH the authority to approve supervised clinical training rotations for mental health providers at school- based health centers. | Support |
| Senate Bill 152 | Signed into law | Allows a designee consent to voluntary admission and sign for admission to a psychiatric hospital for youth in DFS custody. | Support |
| House Bill 153 | Signed into law | Prohibits arrest or detention by any person who does not have explicit statutory authority to carry out an arrest or detention. | Support Intent |
| HS 1 for House Bill 154 | Signed into law | Provides immunity to nonprofit organizations who distribute new secure gun storage and safety devices to individuals. | Support |
| SS 2 for Senate Bill 155 | Signed into law | Makes changes to the Delaware Nursing Home Residents Quality Assurance Commission. | |
| SS1 for Senate Bill 156 | Signed into law | This act prohibits the reporting of medical debt information to consumer reporting agencies and prohibits any medical debt from being used when making decisions regarding someone’s credit, employment, or housing. | |
| House Bill 156 | Signed into law | Updates the Healthcare-Associated Infections Disclosure Act. | |
| House Bill 157 | Signed into law | Repeals the Hearing Aid Loan Bank Program, as the program is no longer operational. | |
| House Bill 158 | Signed into law | Clean up bill for the Public Health Emergency Planning Commission. | |
| Senate Bill 160 | Signed into law | This act requires the Department of Health and Social Services to post existing materials on type 1 diabetes to their website. | |
| Senate Bill 161 | Senate Committee | This bill is intended to modernize the behavioral health licensing process. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 163 | House Committee | Provides a roadmap via an observational study of diabetic or pre-diabetic patients. | Support |
| Senate Bill 164 | Signed into law | Provides a one-time increase of 3% in aggregate worker’s compensation medical expenses to correct reimbursements for medical services coded as evaluation and management for worker compensation cases. | |
| House Bill 165 | House Committee | Authorizes physician assistants, occupational therapists, and nurse practitioners to practice dry needling. | |
| Senate Bill 166 | Out of Senate Committee | All schools receiving approval or financial assistance from the State must provide parenting and pregnant students with specific protections. | |
| House Bill 167 | Signed into law | Updates the Family Justice Center Council Membership. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 169 | Signed into law | Expands the charge of the Behavioral Health Consortium. | |
| Senate Bill 170 | Signed into law | Updates membership to include a representative of a health care provider organization. | |
| Senate Bill 173 | Senate Committee | Updates the list of positions that may be funded through mental health services unit funding to include registered nurses authorized to practice by the Delaware Board of Nursing | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 173 | Signed into law | Requires health care employers to implement a smoke evacuation system for surgical procedures that generate surgical smoke. | |
| House Bill 174 | House Committee | Imposes a surcharge on business, residential, wireless, and prepaid wireless services that will be used to fund suicide assistance services. | |
| House Bill 179 | House Committee | Changes the definition of employer in the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. | |
| Senate Bill 180 | Signed into law | Updates the statute governing pharmacy licensure and practice. | Support |
| HS 1 for House Bill 181 | Out of House Committee | This bill changes the effective date of the penalty section of the Family and Medical Leave Program to January 1, 2029. | |
| Senate Bill 182 | Signed into law | Allows drug manufacturers or their agents and wholesalers to ship dialysate drugs and devices directly to home dialysis patients without a pharmacy license. | |
| Senate Bill 187 | Signed into law | Combines the Department of Education's High Needs Educator Student Loan Repayment Program, the Speech-Language Pathologist Student Loan Repayment Program, and the Mental Health Services Student Loan Repayment Program. | |
| House Bill 190 | Laid on Table | Creates a Grant-in-Aid Subcommittee and codifies requirements and procedures for organizations seeking a grant-in-aid from the General Assembly. | |
| Senate Bill 191 | Out of Senate Committee | Updates language around the board of directors for the Delaware Institute for Dental Education and Research. | |
| Senate Bill 196 | Senate Committee | Requires long-term care facilities to fully disclose ownership information for the facility and disclose ownership information to residents prior to the transfer of ownership of a facility. | |
| Senate Bill 200 | Signed into law | The Fiscal Year 2026 Bond and Capital Improvements Act. | |
| House Bill 200 | House Committee | Requires insurance coverage for treatment to prevent HIV infection. | |
| House Bill 205 | Signed into law | Protects medical providers in the State from out-of-state lawsuits and investigations that threaten the practice of medicine in the State. | Support |
| House Bill 209 | Signed into law | Updates a cross-reference to regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. | |
| HS 1 for House Bill 212 | Signed into law | Makes updates related to overpayment recovery and audit practices. | Support |
| House Bill 215 | House Committee | Updates definition of tobacco product and updates tax of products. | Support |
| House Bill 223 | House Committee | Requires the state to develop or obtain informational materials concerning menstrual disorders to be provided upon request to school districts for purposes of educating students about menstrual disorders and their symptoms. | |
| House Bill 224 | House Committee | Authorizes licensed Physician Assistants (PA) in Delaware to pronounce death and to complete a medical certification of death. | Support |
| House Bill 225 | Signed into law | The Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Act. | |
| House Bill 226 | Signed into law | This Act appropriates $37,632,955 to provide one-time funded items through the Office of Management and Budget. | |
| House Bill 230 | Signed into law | The Fiscal Year 2026 Grants-in-Aid Bill. | |
| House Bill 231 | House Committee | Updates Delaware’s Uniform Health Data laws. | |
| House Bill 234 | House Committee | Allows all employees to organize and to bargain collectively. | |
| HCR 1 | Passed - no further action | Recognizes the significant contributions of nurses as frontline healthcare workers and the importance of basic rights and protections. | |
| HJR 2 | Signed into law | Directs DHSS to explore participating in the federal Restaurant Meals Program (RMP). | Support |
| SJR 2 | Signed into law | Requires Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance to present a report to the GA by January 1, 2026 for the provision of insurance coverage for Community Health Worker services by Medicaid providers. | Support |
| SJR 5 | Senate Committee | Increases the income threshold for qualifying for Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) to 300% of SSI. | Support |
| SJR 6 | Signed into law | Directs DMMA to explore adoption of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) From-Conception-to-End-of-Pregnancy (FCEP). | Support |
| SS 1 for SJR 7 | Signed into law | Directs the SEBC to utilize specific strategies and policies when interacting and contracting with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) to achieve lower cost pharmaceutical drug benefit plans. | |
| HCR 18 | Passed - no further action | Recognizes March 18, 2025 as the inaugural “Health Workforce Well-Being Day of Awareness.” | Support |
| HCR 76 | Passed in House | Recognizes significant health concerns regarding water bead toys and urges the Delaware Department of Education to take regulatory action to keep children safe. | |
| SCR 111 | Passed - no further action | Establishes the Automobile Insurance Reform Task Force. |