Genetic Privacy, Non-Compete Rules, and Stem Cell Access in the States

Michigan entered a bill that would limit insurers' use of genetic information in certain life insurance policies, while non-compete and stem cell access bills from New York and Tennessee also entered the record. The collection day for September 25 brought 402 items into the record, with Colorado's courts and agencies logging their busiest day since July 21.

Why it matters: Insurers, employers, and physicians in Michigan, New York, and Tennessee now have new bill text to track, and Colorado's courts and agencies logged 25 items on their busiest day since July 21.

What moved

• Insurance: insurers; use of genetic information in life insurance policies; prohibit. Amends 1956 PA 218 (MCL 500.100 - 500.8302) by adding sec. 4003. (HB6337), Michigan. The bill would prohibit insurers from using genetic information in universal life insurance policies and certificates issued after December 31, 2027, bar coverage cancellation based solely on genetic information, and stop insurers from requiring genetic testing as a condition of coverage or accessing genetic data without written consent; insurers could still use genetic information already contained in medical records for underwriting. Status is Introduced; the bill awaits committee or floor action in the chamber of origin.

• Prohibits non-compete agreements and certain restrictive covenants; authorizes covered individuals to bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against any employer or persons alleged to have violated such prohibition., New York. The bill would render non-compete agreements null and void for covered individuals and health related professionals, with exceptions for business sales and ownership interests of 15 percent or more, and would let covered individuals sue within two years for liquidated damages up to $10,000, lost compensation, and attorney fees. Status is Engrossed (passed one chamber); the bill awaits the other chamber.

• AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 53; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to stem cell treatment., Tennessee. The legislation creates a pathway for patients with severe chronic diseases or terminal illnesses to access investigational adult stem cell treatments not yet FDA-approved, provided they have exhausted approved treatment options and obtain physician recommendation and informed consent, and protects physicians from licensure discipline for recommending such treatments. Status is Engrossed (passed one chamber); the bill awaits the other chamber.

• CLAIM Act Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana Act (HB10471), federal. The bill would create a safe harbor letting insurance companies do business with cannabis related businesses operating under state law, bar federal agencies from penalizing insurers for providing such coverage, and require a GAO study on barriers to financial services access for minority-owned and women-owned cannabis businesses. Status is Introduced; it awaits committee or floor action after referral to the House Committee on Financial Services.

By the numbers

• Federal regulations totaled 101 against a trailing weekday average of about 76, roughly one and a third times the usual pace.
• Federal court opinions totaled 96 against a trailing weekday average of about 54, close to twice the usual pace.
• Federal bills totaled 9 against a trailing weekday average of about 1.
• Across all jurisdictions, 28 bills entered the record, the most since August 14 and about nine and a half times the trailing weekday average of about 3; bill collection arrives in batches, so this reflects when bills were collected, not when they were introduced.
• Colorado's agencies posted 20 regulations, the most since July 21 and about eleven times the trailing weekday average of about 2; Colorado had last logged any regulation on September 11, 14 days earlier. Colorado's total of 25 items (20 regulations, 5 court opinions) was its busiest day since July 21, about nine times its trailing weekday average of about 3.
• Across all jurisdictions combined, 402 items entered the record, with 206 from federal sources and 196 across 29 states.

Bill actions

No tracked bill carried a LegiScan status change dated September 25.

Methodology

"Collected" means the pipeline's collection date, not the source date the record was originally filed or issued. Counts are deduplicated processed records from OmniLegislation's own pipeline. Item descriptions come from the pipeline's own summaries of each record. Baselines are trailing 30 day daily averages for the same kind of day, weekdays against weekdays, excluding known bulk-load days; the highest single-day counts are measured since tracking began on April 5, 2026, and include load days, which are labelled. Bill actions cover tracked bills only. This report covers September 25, 2026. Bill records originate from LegiScan; court opinions from CourtListener, a Free Law Project service; federal regulations from the Federal Register.