DE SB 238

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24, TITLE 29, AND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CHIROPRACTIC THERAPY AND PHYSICAL THERAPY.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · upper

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Quick answers

Did DE SB 238 pass?

Yes. DE SB 238 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-04-28): Signed by Governor

What is DE SB 238 about?

In Delaware, all individual health insurance policies, all group and blanket health insurance policies, the State employee health insurance plan, and Medicaid are required to cover chiropractic and physical therapy treatment for chronic back pain without annual or lifetime numerical limits on physical therapy or chiropractic care visits. To evaluate the effectiveness of this coverage requirement, the Patient Centered Care Subcommittee of the Addiction Action Committee, under the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, sent a survey to chiropractic therapy and physical therapy providers in Delaware. Although the survey showed that the coverage requirement has improved treatment of chronic pain patients, the survey also showed that the coverage requirement provides supportive chronic pain treatment for only the thoracic region of the spine, which is the middle of the spine from the base of the neck to the bottom of the ribs, and the lumbar region of the spine, which is the lower back. The treatment of chronic pain through chiropractic supportive care, physical therapy, or both, can prevent a patient from requiring opioid pain medications or more expensive treatments, but excluding vital areas of the spine and body from coverage may limit the effectiveness of chiropractic therapy and physical therapy treatment and limits a chronic pain patient’s potential for improvement. This Act encourages treatment of chronic pain patients without opioids by updating the required health insurance coverage to prohibit annual or lifetime numerical visits on physical therapy or chiropractic care visits that are for the purpose of treating the spine and other neuromusculoskeletal structures, including extremities. The updated coverage required under this Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2026. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Who sponsors DE SB 238?

Lyndon D. Yearick, Eric Morrison, David P. Sokola and 18 others are the primary sponsors of DE SB 238, joined by 17 cosponsors.

Description

Introduced: 2026-02-19
Latest action: 2026-04-28 — Signed by Governor
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

2026-04-28
Signed by Governor
executive-signature
2026-04-23
Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 ABSENT
passage
2026-04-23
Suspension of Rules in Senate
2026-04-23
Passed By House. Votes: 33 YES 3 NO 5 ABSENT
passage
2026-04-23
Amendment HA 1 to SB 238 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
amendment-passage
2026-04-23
Amendment HA 1 to SB 238 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2026-04-21
Reported Out of Committee (Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce) in House with 12 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2026-04-09
Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee
2026-03-26
Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
passage
2026-03-26
Amendment SA 1 to SB 238 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT
amendment-passage
2026-03-11
Amendment SA 1 to SB 238 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2026-03-11
Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 7 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2026-02-19
Introduced and Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee

Versions

HA 1 to SB 238Compare
SA 1 to SB 238Compare
Bill TextCompare

Documents

Votes

SM
2026-03-26 · pass · 20-0
Member-level votes (21)
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: yes
- Daniel Cruce: yes
- Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
- Gerald W. Hocker: yes
- Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
- Russell Huxtable: yes
- Dave G. Lawson: yes
- S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
- Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
- Trey Paradee: other
- Brian Pettyjohn: yes
- Marie Pinkney: yes
- Nicole Poore: yes
- Bryant L. Richardson: yes
- Ray Seigfried: yes
- David P. Sokola: yes
- Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
- Bryan Townsend: yes
- John "Jack" Walsh: yes
- David L. Wilson: yes
SM
2026-04-23 · pass · 16-0
Member-level votes (21)
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: yes
- Daniel Cruce: other
- Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
- Gerald W. Hocker: yes
- Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
- Russell Huxtable: yes
- Dave G. Lawson: other
- S. Elizabeth Lockman: other
- Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
- Trey Paradee: yes
- Brian Pettyjohn: yes
- Marie Pinkney: yes
- Nicole Poore: other
- Bryant L. Richardson: yes
- Ray Seigfried: yes
- David P. Sokola: yes
- Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
- Bryan Townsend: yes
- John "Jack" Walsh: yes
- David L. Wilson: other
SM
2026-04-23 · pass · 33-3
Member-level votes (62)
- Alonna Berry: yes
- Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
- Frank Burns: yes
- William Bush: yes
- William J. Carson: yes
- Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
- Richard G. Collins: yes
- Franklin D. Cooke: yes
- Daniel B. Short: yes
- Timothy D. Dukes: yes
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: yes
- Krista Griffith: yes
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: yes
- Jeff Hilovsky: yes
- Valerie Jones Giltner: no
- Kendra Johnson: yes
- Kimberly Williams: yes
- Kamela T Smith: yes
- Larry Lambert: yes
- Sean M. Lynn: other
- Michael F. Smith: yes
- Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
- Shannon Morris: other
- Eric Morrison: yes
- DeShanna U Neal: yes
- Josue O Ortega: other
- Edward S. Osienski: yes
- Sophie Phillips: yes
- Charles S Postles Jr.: no
- Cyndie Romer: yes
- Melanie Ross Levin: yes
- Sherae'a Moore: yes
- Bryan W. Shupe: no
- Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
- Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
- Jesse R. Vanderwende: other
- Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
- Lyndon D. Yearick: other
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: yes
- Daniel Cruce: other
- Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
- Gerald W. Hocker: yes
- Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
- Russell Huxtable: yes
- Dave G. Lawson: other
- S. Elizabeth Lockman: other
- Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
- Trey Paradee: yes
- Brian Pettyjohn: yes
- Marie Pinkney: yes
- Nicole Poore: other
- Bryant L. Richardson: yes
- Ray Seigfried: yes
- David P. Sokola: yes
- Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
- Bryan Townsend: yes
- John "Jack" Walsh: yes
- David L. Wilson: other

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=142863

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-23T10:19:11.893711Z

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