Jan. 1 (UPI) -- The start of 2022 brings along with it the enforcement of new laws covering a wide range of areas in several states.
Beginning Saturday states will put laws into effect limiting unexpected medical bills, raising wages and legalizing recreational marijuana use, among others.
Preventing surprise medical bills
The federal No Surprises Act takes effect on Saturday, requiring insurance companies to cover charges from out-of-network providers.
The law protects patients who receive emergency care or scheduled treatment from doctors and hospitals outside of their insurance networks that they did not choose.
Bills for one-fifth of emergency treatments and one-sixth of in-network hospitalizations are found to include at least one such out-of-network charge.
Federal estimates say the legislation will apply to about 10 million medical bills each year.
Increasing minimum wage
New York increased its minimum wage on Saturday followed by 20 other states beginning Saturday.
The increases in New York, California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island come as part of scheduled raises in order to reach $15-per-hour minimums.
Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico and Virginia have laws in effect raising the minimum wage toward $12-per-hour.
Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington also saw wage increases due to automatic cost-of-living adjustments based on inflation.
Recreational marijuana
In Montana,...
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