A New York bill would stop insurers from owning their own middlemen

On Tuesday, September 29, 2026, four developments were tracked across two fronts: state oversight and new drug research. A New York bill takes aim at ownership conflicts in drug coverage, and a new California law adds privacy protections for some sensitive health records. Meanwhile, two new drug candidates are set to enter testing that could expand treatment options in the coming years. Together, these changes touch how patients are protected today and what may be available tomorrow.

California's new law, AB 2448, requires businesses that store medical records for health care providers, health plans and others to switch on extra privacy protections, such as limiting which staff can see records and keeping some records separate, for gender-affirming care, abortion and contraception. It does not cover GLP-1 prescriptions or weight-loss care. It is one example of how states are adding protections for the most sensitive health records.

New York's proposal responds to a structural conflict that has drawn increasing scrutiny nationwide. When one company owns both an insurance plan and the pharmacy benefit manager that negotiates drug prices, it controls both what a patient pays and what the middleman earns from that transaction. Supporters argue this overlap gives companies an incentive to steer patients toward more expensive drugs or block cheaper alternatives, since the same business benefits either way. Senate Bill S9191-A, sponsored by Sen. Michelle Hinchey, would bar one company from owning more than one of an insurer, a pharmacy benefit manager or a pharmacy. The bill does not mention GLP-1 drugs, but it would apply to how all prescriptions are covered. It is still in the Senate Judiciary Committee. If it passes, it could change how insurers in the state structure their pharmacy benefit contracts going forward.

JMT206, an experimental muscle-sparing antibody from Shanghai JMT-Bio, is starting a Phase 1 safety study in China, testing it alone and alongside semaglutide to check how it is tolerated at different doses. The trial will enroll 90 participants with obesity, starting in October 2026, and will focus on safety rather than effectiveness at this early stage. Phase 1 trials like this one are the first step in a long process, and most candidate drugs still have years of testing ahead before they might reach patients. Still, each new candidate entering trials, including drugs meant to be used with GLP-1s, adds to the pool of treatments in development, which may eventually offer patients more options.

HRS-4729, a new drug from Fujian Shengdi Pharmaceutical, is entering a Phase 2 trial focused specifically on people with type 2 diabetes, a later stage of testing than JMT206's current trial. The study will enroll 240 participants starting in October 2026 and compare HRS-4729 with mazdutide, a GLP-1 drug already approved in China, and with placebo. Phase 2 trials typically look at both safety and how well a drug works, which gives researchers an early read on effectiveness before moving to larger trials. Because HRS-4729 is being developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company, its progress may also signal how international drug development is expanding the range of options beyond currently available brands. Patients with type 2 diabetes watching new drug development may want to track this trial as it moves toward results, though any wider availability remains several years away.

Taken together, these developments show regulators and drug makers working on different timelines but toward the same goal: making GLP-1 treatment safer, fairer, and more available. Patients in New York may want to follow whether the bill moves out of committee, while anyone considering future options can keep an eye on how JMT206 and HRS-4729 progress through trials. Only the California law is final, and it does not cover GLP-1 records; the rest will take time to unfold. The most useful step for readers right now is to stay informed about their own state's rules and to talk with their care team about how new developments might affect their treatment.

By Amanda Bonello