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2005 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health

Chairman: H. Russell Potts, Jr.

Clerk: Jocelyn Lance
Date of Meeting: January 20, 2005
Time and Place: Thursday, 8:00 a.m., Senate Room B, GAB
Education bills will be heard first

S.B. 712 Higher educational institutions; requires student be vaccinated for hepatitis B.

Patron: Potts

Higher education; vaccination for hepatitis B.  Provides that full-time students enrolled for the first time in any four-year public institution of higher education shall be vaccinated against hepatitis B unless the student signs a waiver that he has received and reviewed information on hepatitis B and the availability and effectiveness of being vaccinated.

S.B. 716 Physician assistants; provisions for practicing in hospital emergency departments.

Patron: Edwards

Physician assistants practicing in hospital emergency departments. Provides that the hospital emergency department shall have no control of or supervisory responsibility for any assistant who is not employed by the emergency physician or his professional business entity. The bill also stipulates that a physician assistant, who is not so employed, may practice in an emergency department as authorized by the assistant's supervising physician, whether or not the supervising physician is physically present in the facility. In such cases, the supervising physician retains exclusive responsibility for the assistant, and must be available at all times for consultation with both the assistant and the emergency department physician. The assistant is required to communicate the proposed disposition plan for any patient under his care to both his supervising physician and the emergency department physician prior to the patient's discharge from the emergency department.

S.B. 742 Medical assistance; employer information, report.

Patron: Miller

Medical assistance; employer information.  Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to require any applicant for health care benefits under public health programs, including the state plan for medical assistance services, the State/Local Hospitalization Plan, and the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan, to identify the employer of the proposed beneficiary of the health care benefit and to report employers who employ 25 or more public health program beneficiaries to the Governor and General Assembly. The report shall include each employer's name, location, the total number of its employees and dependents who are enrolled in each health care program, and the total cost to the Commonwealth of providing health care benefits for the employees and enrolled dependents of each named employer.

S.B. 747 Obesity; requiring Bd. of Education, et al, to promulgate regulations establ. standards in schools.

Patron: Edwards

Childhood obesity.  Requires the Board of Education to promulgate, in cooperation with the State Health Department, regulations establishing standards to ameliorate childhood obesity in the public schools. This bill also adds the improvement of school health as one of the criteria to be considered by local schools during the annual evaluation of division superintendents. Further, the bill requires division superintendents to complete instruction concerning the causes and consequences of overweight and obesity by July 1, 2006. The requirement for instruction may be satisfied by attendance at conferences, seminars, or in-service training.

S.B. 779 Standards of Quality; changes in provisions.

Patron: Potts

Standards of Quality. Revises the Standards of Quality to require local school boards to (i) implement a program of data collection and analysis and to use such results in instructional program evaluation; (ii) implement any actions identified through the academic review of schools accredited with a warning; (iii) analyze and report annually the results of industry certification examinations; (iv) annually review their professional development programs; and (v) report compliance with the Standards of Quality annually to the Board of Education.

In addition, the bill (i) increases from 10 to 17 the full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency; (ii) provides that teacher, administrator, and superintendent evaluations shall be based on performance objectives included in the Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators, and Superintendents developed by the Board of Education; (iii) replaces Board- and locally-adopted six-year statewide or divisionwide plans, as the case may be, (including those for educational technology) with "comprehensive" statewide or divisionwide plans; and (iv) replaces individual school six-year plans with "comprehensive" plans.

The measure also includes a number of technical or clarifying amendments and additional cross-references for other Code sections.

S.B. 829 Health; treatment of narrow angle glaucoma. 

Patron: Mims

Health; treatment of narrow angle glaucoma.  Provides that treatment of narrow angle glaucoma by optometrists must include timely referral to an ophthalmologist for consideration of preventive invasive procedures. The bill also includes definitions of "narrow angle glaucoma" and "adnexa" and prohibits treatment by optometrists of the paranasal sinuses, eyebrows, the brain, the oropharyngeal cavity, and certain systemic disease processes including hypertension, diabetes, and collagen vascular diseases.

S.B. 841 Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Program; created, report.

Patron: Deeds

Health; Virginia Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Plan.  Establishes a program to be administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), modeled on Delaware's Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Program, to assist eligible elderly and disabled Virginians in paying for prescription drugs. DMAS may contract with third-party administrators to provide administrative services that include enrollment, outreach, eligibility determination, data collection, financial oversight, and reporting. The benefit is limited to prescription drugs manufactured by pharmaceutical companies that agree to provide manufacturer rebates. Eligible persons must have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level or have prescription drug expenses that exceed 40 percent of their annual income, as set forth in the appropriation act. They must also be age 65 or older or eligible for Federal Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Benefits, not be receiving a prescription drug benefit through a Medicare supplemental policy or other third-party payor prescription benefit at the time they are to be enrolled in the program, and be ineligible for Medicaid prescription benefits. However, nothing shall prohibit the enrollment of a person in the program during the period in which his Medicaid eligibility is determined. Eligible enrollees will receive an identification card to be presented to pharmacists and will start receiving the benefit the month after their eligibility is determined. Benefits will be paid to pharmacies under a point-of-service claims procedure to be established by DMAS. Participants are required to make a co-payment for each prescription, which will not exceed 25 percent of the cost, but will be no less than $5. Money to pay the claims will come from The newly established Prescription Assistance Fund will be financed by 10 percent of the proceeds received by the Commonwealth under the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement and any federal funds available for this purpose. Administrative costs are to be paid from the pharmaceutical manufacturer rebates to the extent available and the $20 annual enrollment fees. The Board shall develop a comprehensive statewide community-based outreach plan to enroll eligible persons and DMAS shall report annually on the program's implementation. No entitlement to prescription drug coverage on the part of any eligible person or any right or entitlement to participation is created and such coverage shall only be available to the extent that funds are appropriated therefor.

S.B. 853 Voluntary treatment.

Patron: Cuccinelli

Voluntary treatment.  Authorizes juveniles age 14 and older who have the consent of their parent to be admitted voluntarily to state hospitals (Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services) for treatment.

S.B. 861 Tuberculosis; establishing library of isolates from persons with disease.

Patron: Howell

Reporting of tuberculosis strains with antimicrobial drug susceptibilities.  Removes the option of submitting to the local health director a report of antimicrobial drug susceptibilities performed by a laboratory certified to perform such testing in lieu of submitting a representative and viable sample of initial cultures positive for tubercle bacilli to the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services. The bill requires that the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services establish a library of isolates from persons with active tuberculosis disease for the purpose of disease strain analysis as indicated by epidemiological investigations.

S.B. 880 Compulsory school attendance; truancy and chronic tardiness.

Patron: Obenshain

Compulsory school attendance, truancy and chronic tardiness.  Incorporates the concept of chronic tardiness into the reporting, recordkeeping, and enforcement provisions of the compulsory school attendance law and other enforcement provisions relating to the welfare of children, including the law relating to juvenile and domestic courts and the parental responsibility law relating to public education and discipline. This bill requires the Board of Education to promulgate regulations defining "chronically tardy" to identify those children who are in violation of compulsory school attendance by reason of being habitually and without justification absent from school for a significant portion of the day because of routine and substantial late arrival to school.

S.B. 889 Suicide prevention; lead agency to be Department of Mental Health, etc., report.

Patron: Mims

Suicide prevention; lead agency. Provides that the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services will be the lead agency for suicide prevention across the lifespan in the Commonwealth. This responsibility includes coordination of the activities of the agencies of the Commonwealth pertaining to suicide prevention in order to develop and carry out a comprehensive suicide prevention plan addressing public awareness, the promotion of health development, early identification, intervention and treatment, support to survivors, and surveillance. The Department of Health shall continue to be responsible for youth suicide prevention.

S.B. 892 Meningococcal meningitis; requires all schools to distribute information to parents.

Patron: Mims

Dissemination of information regarding meningococcal meningitis.  Requires school boards to ensure that all schools in the division include information regarding meningococcal meningitis and related vaccinations in those materials currently required to be distributed at the beginning of each school year to parents. This information is to address (i) the etiology, symptoms, transmission, and prevention of meningococcal meningitis; (ii) additional informational sources; and (iii) entities offering such vaccinations.

S.B. 931 Endowment funds; use by higher educational institutions.

Patron: O'Brien

Higher education endowment funds; supplementing salaries.  Clarifies that public institutions of higher education may use endowment funds to supplement faculty salaries and benefits.

Current law provides that the Commonwealth cannot consider the availability of private endowment moneys when determining its fiscal support for public colleges and universities.

Pursuant to various institutions' statutes, the governing boards are typically empowered to employ "all teachers, and fix their salaries..."

S.B. 949 Teachers; licensure.

Patron: Potts

Teacher licensure by reciprocity.  Provides for teacher licensure by reciprocity for an individual who has completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university and who has obtained a valid out-of-state license that is in force at the time the application for a Virginia license is made. The individual must establish a file in the Department of Education by submitting a complete application packet, which shall include official student transcripts. No professional teacher's assessment or service requirements shall be imposed for these licensed individuals.

Current Board of Education regulations (8 VAC 20-21-90) require a professional teacher's assessment (PRAXIS) for out-of-state applicants who (i) have completed a state-approved teacher training program through a regionally accredited four-year college or university, or (ii) hold a valid out-of-state teaching license in force at the time the license application is made. These persons must also provide student transcripts. 

S.B. 952 Humane treatment of animals; requirement of instruction.

Patron: Potts

Humane treatment of animals.  Requires instruction relating to humane treatment of animals, including responsible pet ownership and care, to be taught in the character education program in public schools.

S.B. 953 Pharmaceutical assistance; maximizing benefits of Medicare discount card program for seniors.

Patron: Potts

Pharmaceutical assistance; The Pharmacy Connection program.  Requires, in order to maximize the benefits of the new Medicare pharmaceutical discount card program for Virginia's Senior Citizens, that the Commissioner of Health annually for two years commencing on July 1, 2005, (i) analyze access to The Pharmacy Connection program vis-à-vis the Medicare pharmaceutical discount card program, the $600 transitional coverage provided under federal law, and pharmaceutical companies' offers of "wrap-around" coverage for low-income seniors; and (ii) recommend, to the Virginia Health Care Foundation, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, and the Governor, appropriate localities for expansion of access to The Pharmacy Connection program in Virginia, particularly in areas having high concentrations of low-income seniors. The goal of the Commissioner's analysis will be to facilitate statewide implementation of The Pharmacy Connection program.  The Commissioner must complete this analysis by October 31 of each year and shall immediately request an estimate of the costs of the recommended expansion of such access from the Virginia Health Care Foundation to be forwarded to the Secretary and the Governor, for inclusion in the appropriation act, in so far as possible and appropriate to promote the health and safety of Virginia's low-income senior citizens.

S.B. 958 Standards of Quality; requires employment of speech-language pathologists.

Patron: Potts

Standards of Quality; speech-language pathologists.  Requires local school boards to employ speech-language pathologists in a manner to provide a ratio of one full-time speech-language pathologist for every 60 students. The bill also requires that these positions be supported through state funding.

S.B. 964 Substitute teachers; definition.

Patron: O'Brien

Substitute teachers.  Defines a long-term substitute as a teacher who is employed in the same position for more than 20 days.

Current Board of Education regulations provide that substitutes teachers "[b]e a minimum of 18 years of age (21 years of age preferred); [p]ossess good moral character; [h]ave earned a high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED); and attend an orientation to school policies and procedures conducted by the local school division"(8 VAC 20-640-10).

Currently, Virginia school divisions typically define "long-term substitute" in employment policy.

The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act directs states to ensure that, by the end of 2005-06, teachers in the core academic areas are "highly qualified." Ensuring accountability for highly qualified instructional personnel is a required annual "report card" from each state, detailing teacher qualifications and the percentage of classes not served by "highly qualified" teachers.

Pursuant to Title I, Part A, of the Act, schools must give each parent timely notice when their child has been assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks, by a teacher who is not highly qualified (Section 1111(h)(6)(B)(ii)).

According to the U.S. Department of Education (No Child Left Behind:  A Toolkit for Teachers (updated 2004)), while "short-term substitute teachers do not need to meet the highly qualified teacher requirements under No Child Left Behind, it is strongly recommended that a long-term substitute teacher meet the requirements for a highly qualified teacher as defined in the law. In addition, as states and districts establish a definition for 'long-term substitute,' they should bear in mind that the law requires parent notification if a student has received instruction for four or more consecutive weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified."

S.B. 969 Entrepreneurship Education Program; created.

Patron: O'Brien

Entrepreneurship Education Program.  Creates the Entrepreneurship Education Program, consisting of grants administered by the Board of Education to public secondary schools to support innovative educational programs designed to assist at-risk students in the development of their entrepreneurial, academic, and life skills. The programs shall, among other things, (i) incorporate experiential learning; (ii) include partnerships with business and higher education; and (iii) assist students in practicing and mastering business concepts, such as negotiation, pricing, and the development and implementation of plans for individual student businesses.

S.B. 981 Schools or day-care centers; noncustodial parent as an emergency contact.

Patron: O'Brien

Noncustodial parent as emergency contact.  Provides that, unless a court order has been issued to the contrary, the noncustodial parent of a student enrolled in a public school or day care center must be included, upon the request of such noncustodial parent, as an emergency contact for events occurring during school or day care activities.

S.B. 1006 Children in foster care; public schools shall provide free education.

Patron: Hanger

Educational protections for children in foster care.  Clarifies that the public schools in a school division shall be free to children in foster care living in that school division in the same manner as provided to homeless children and youth pursuant to the McKinney-Vento Act and state law.

S.B. 1024 Hospitals and nursing homes; Bd. of Health must include minimum standards for design, etc.

Patron: Newman

Licensure of hospitals and nursing homes; Board of Health.  Requires the Board of Health's regulations setting forth design and construction standards for hospitals and nursing homes to be aligned with the then current edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities issued by the American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health. The Board is required to promulgate emergency regulations to implement this provision.

S.B. 1034 Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund; created.

Patron: Lambert

Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund. Amends, reorganizes, and moves the statute creating the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program and Fund to Title 30. Currently, a part of the law is codified in Title 23. The bill also (i) includes several technical amendments to provide clarity and consistency; (ii) reinstates language inadvertently omitted; (iii) prohibits the use of scholarship funds for theological education; (iv) authorizes the Awards Committee to seek, receive, and expend nonstate funds; and (v) resolves the issue of the separation of powers by requiring the State Council of Higher Education to advise and provide technical assistance to the Awards Committee in a manner consistent with its statutory responsibilities for higher education in the Commonwealth. Under the current law, the Scholarship Program and the Awards Committee are created within the legislative branch; however, administration of the Program is shared between the legislative and executive branch agencies. The bill also waives the Standards of Learning requirements and assessments for persons awarded a scholarship under the Program and who are enrolled in a preparation program for the General Education Development (GED) certificate or an adult basic education program for the high school diploma. Also, for the purpose of verifying the domicile of applicants, the Awards Committee is authorized to establish a list of acceptable documents consistent with those required to obtain a Virginia driver's license or identification card, and to access vital records. In addition, the Awards Committee must establish a protocol to facilitate the dual enrollment of eligible students in adult basic education programs and degree programs, and the conventional enrollment of such students in public and private two-year institutions of higher education. Further, the Awards Committee is charged to develop and implement a system that provides transition programs and services to prepare eligible students for academic success in GED preparation and adult basic education programs, and college.

The second enactment clause allows students who are enrolled in an approved education program when the Program expires to complete their education through the renewal of the scholarship, if they demonstrate satisfactory academic achievement. The third enactment clause delegates to the State Council of Higher Education the responsibility to review and approve applications for renewal of scholarship awards of students who were enrolled in approved education programs when the Program expired. The fourth enactment clause repeals Chapter 4.4:5 of Title 23, consisting of §§ 23-38.53:21 through 23-38.53:24, and Chapter 34 of Title 30, consisting of §§ 30-226 through 30-231. This bill has an emergency clause.

This bill is a recommendation of the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Awards Committee.

S.B. 1036 Prescription drugs; pedigree of normal distribution chain required. 

Patron: Ruff

Prescription drugs; pedigree of normal distribution chain required.  Requires any person engaged in the wholesale distribution of a controlled substance to provide a paper or electronic pedigree identifying each sale, trade, or transfer of a controlled substance when it leaves the normal distribution channel and is sold, traded, or transferred to any other person. Such pedigree shall include all necessary identifying information concerning each sale in the chain of distribution of the product from the manufacturer through acquisition and sale by any wholesale distributor or repackager until final sale to a pharmacy or other person dispensing or administering the drug. The bill also includes the following restrictions on transactions of controlled substances: (i) in any calendar month a wholesale distributor must sell, distribute, or transfer at least 95 percent of its total amount of controlled substances to a pharmacy or other person dispensing or administering the controlled substance; (ii) prior to selling a controlled substance to any person, a manufacturer or wholesale distributor must verify that the person is legally authorized to receive such substances; and (iii) a wholesale distributor may not purchase a controlled substance from a pharmacy unless it was originally purchased by the pharmacy from the wholesale distributor. Under no circumstances may a wholesale distributor receive a greater quantity of a controlled substance from a pharmacy than was originally sold by the distributor to the pharmacy or pay a pharmacy more for any controlled substance than the pharmacy originally paid the distributor.

S.B. 1045 Diplomas; guidelines for awarding.

Patron: Wagner

Diplomas; student-selected verified credits.  Directs the Board of Education to establish guidelines for local school boards, to be effective for the graduating class of 2007, for the award of verified credits, not to exceed two such credits per student, for passing scores on industry certifications and assessments approved by the Board of Education for substitution for the Standards of Learning assessments. Such guidelines shall be designed to ensure that students have acquired the knowledge and skills required to enter a technical or skilled trade upon graduation. School boards shall report annually to the Board of Education the number of industry certifications obtained and will include this number as a category on the school's achievement report card

Currently, the Standards of Accreditation (SOA) require the accumulation of a specific number of standard and verified units of credit for standard diplomas. The verified unit of credit is awarded upon passage of the relevant Standards of Learning (SOL) test (additional tests approved by the Board of Education), as well as the course (8 VAC 20-131-110 A, B). The Standard Diploma requires 22 credits, six of which must be verified units of credit, while the Advanced Studies Diploma requires 24 credits, with nine verified units. The SOA currently require verified units of credit in specific subjects, such as English, mathematics, science, history and social science. The Modified Standard Diploma is awarded to students with disabilities who are "unlikely to meet the credit requirements for a Standard Diploma" (8 VAC 20-131-50).

School accreditation is based on pass rates for the SOL assessments (8 VAC 20-131-300).

S.B. 1050 Ombudsman; court to appoint to serve as intermediary to protect interest of incapacitated seniors.

Patron: Wagner

Health; appointment of ombudsman for incapacitated seniors.  Authorizes a court, following the appointment of a guardian for incapacitated persons aged 60 or over, to appoint an ombudsman to serve as an intermediary to protect the interests of persons subject to the guardianship order. The entity with whom the Department for the Aging contracts to provide long-term care ombudsmen must establish a system for voluntary ombudsman services acting as intermediary for such persons subject to guardianship orders.

S.B. 1053 Higher educational institutions; intellectual property policies.

Patron: Wagner

Public institutions of higher education; intellectual property policies.  Establishes the circumstances pursuant to which public institutions of higher education are required or authorized to transfer or assign intellectual property that is developed through externally-sponsored research to the sponsor of the research.

S.B. 1064 Health records; emphasizes right of an individual to have access thereto, exceptions.

Patron: Martin

Health records privacy.  Emphasizes the right of an individual to have access to his health records with certain exceptions; defines the term "psychotherapy notes"; clarifies the list of persons to whom disclosure of protected health information may be made; underscores the confidentiality of psychotherapy notes and prohibits the disclosure of such psychotherapy notes, with exceptions for training programs, legal processes, protection of third parties, and various law-enforcement and regulatory investigations; and states specifically that state law controls the procedures for requesting health records.

S.B. 1066 Higher educational institutions; reduction in undergraduate tuition and fees.

Patron: Edwards

Reduction in undergraduate tuition and fees.  Directs the governing body of each public institution of higher education to reduce the tuition and mandatory educational and general fees in effect on June 30, 2005, for in-state undergraduate students by 20 percent for the year beginning July 1, 2005, and ending June 30, 2006. Following such reduction, the Governor shall include, in each budget submitted to the General Assembly, sufficient funds to reimburse each public institution of higher education for such tuition and mandatory fees reduced pursuant to this section.

S.B. 1097 Health savings accounts. 

Patron: Martin

Health savings accounts.  Requires the Department of Taxation and the State Corporation Commission to amend the Virginia Medical Savings Account Plan to address the provisions of federal law that permit eligible individuals to establish health savings accounts. The revised plan, to be called the Virginia Health Savings Account Plan, shall set forth the requirements for establishing health savings accounts. Existing medical savings accounts may be converted to health savings accounts. Health carriers are expressly authorized to offer high deductible health plans that qualify for and may be offered in conjunction with health savings accounts. The 2003 federal Medicare legislation authorizes eligible individuals who purchase a high deductible health plan to make tax-deductible contributions into a health savings account, generally up to the amount of the health plan's deductible, and to make tax-free withdrawals from the health savings account to pay for qualified medical expenses. The measure also repeals provisions relating to the establishment of the Virginia Medical Savings Account Plan and to the role of the Joint Commission on Health Care in monitoring the development of the Plan.

S.B. 1098 Prescription Monitoring Program.

Patron: Wampler

Prescription Monitoring Program.  Expands the Prescription Monitoring Program to include reporting by out-of-state dispensers (nonresident pharmacies) and to cover the entire Commonwealth. To assist in verifying the validity of a prescription, the bill extends the authority to query the system to prescribers licensed in other states and to pharmacists. The fourth and fifth enactment clauses of Chapter 481 of the 2002 Acts of Assembly are repealed to remove the funding contingencies and the restriction on the application of the program to a pilot project covering the southwestern region of Virginia. The program requires the reporting of "covered substances,"  that, pursuant to this bill, will include all controlled substances in Schedules II, III, and IV of the Drug Control Act (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.) of Title 54.1. Emergency regulations must be promulgated by the Director. Although the bill will be effective in due course, i.e., July 1, 2005, its provisions will not be implemented or enforced until the date on which the emergency regulations become effective. The Director is required to notify all out-of-state and Virginia dispensers who will be newly subject to the reporting requirements of the Prescription Monitoring Program prior to the date on which the provisions of this act will be implemented and enforced.

S.B. 1109 Health records; revises certain provisions for privacy of minors.

Patron: Blevins

Health records privacy; minors' records.  Revises certain provisions relating to minors' health records to provide a measure of consistency with the federal regulations that were promulgated by the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act concerning access to and authority to disclose protected health information.

S.B. 1110 Disclosure of patient information by certain health care providers.

Patron: Blevins

Disclosure of patient information by certain health care providers.  Repeals provisions governing disclosure of patient information to third party payors by mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse professionals. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care.

S.B. 1127 Health; licensure of dentists by credentials and volunteer licenses for retired dentists and dental

Patron: Houck

Health; licensure of dentists by credentials and volunteer licenses for retired dentists and dental hygienists.  Authorizes the Board of Dentistry to grant, without an additional examination, a license to practice dentistry to persons licensed to practice dentistry in another state if certain conditions, including the completion of a clinical licensing examination substantially equivalent to the one required of Virginia licensees, are met.  However, such a license shall be automatically revoked if (i) the licensee does not practice dentistry solely within the Commonwealth within two years of the license being granted or (ii) if having held the license for two years, the licensee ceases to actively practice dentistry solely within the Commonwealth. The bill further authorizes the Board to issue a volunteer license to retired dentists or dental hygienists. Such volunteer licensees may practice only in certain types of facilities, and may serve as a supervising dentist in an accredited dental hygiene school. The Board must promulgate emergency regulations.

S.B. 1130 Elementary schools; physical education instruction requirement.

Patron: Lambert

Elementary schools.  Requires physical education instruction to include 30 minutes daily of cardio-vascular, muscle building, and stretching exercises utilizing existing school personnel.

S.B. 1132 Immunization Information System (VIIS); established.

Patron: Howell

Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS).  Requires the Board of Health to establish the Virginia Immunization Information System, a statewide immunization registry that consolidates patient immunization histories from birth to death into a complete, accurate, and definitive record that may be made available to participating health care providers throughout Virginia. The Board must promulgate regulations addressing voluntary participation, a secure system for data entry or delivery, incorporation of the data already reported on children's immunizations, the nature of the data to be reported, data-sharing agreements with other state and regional immunization registries, use of vital statistic data, requests for records in compliance with existing requirements, release of aggregate data without personal identifiers, and the use of the data in an epidemic or outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.

The bill also establishes the criteria for disclosure of protected health information to VIIS, i.e., ensuring the integrity of the health care system and prevention of disease. Immunity is provided to participants, the Board and Commissioner of Health, and employees of the Department of Health. Current responsibilities for record maintenance and obtaining immunization of children are retained as well as existing exemptions on religious or health grounds.

S.B. 1136 No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waiver.

Patron: Hanger

No Child Left Behind Act; Board of Education to seek waiver.  Directs the Board of Education to seek a waiver from compliance with those provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that are duplicative of the Commonwealth's prior educational accountability system as set forth in the Standards of Quality, Standards of Learning, and Standards of Accreditation, or are lacking in cost effectiveness, and that already comply with the spirit and intent of the federal act.

S.B. 1145 Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board; increase in membership.

Patron: Deeds

State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board.  Increases the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board from 25 to 27 members appointed by the Governor. The change reflects the increase in the number of regional emergency medical services councils. The bill decreases from two to one the number of representatives of the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads, Inc.

S.B. 1146 Emergency Medical Services Plan, statewide; new requirements, and deletion of cross references.

Patron: Deeds

Statewide Emergency Medical Services Plan; additional programs.  Amends the objectives of the Statewide Emergency Medical Services Plan by eliminating the registration program for automated external defibrillators and establishing four new objectives including the establishment of (i) a process for crisis intervention and peer support services for emergency medical services and public safety personnel; (ii) a statewide emergency medical services for children program; (iii) a statewide system of health and medical emergency response teams; and (iv) a program to improve dispatching of emergency medical services.

S.B. 1184 Newborn screening.

Patron: Puller

Newborn screening.  Broadens the Commonwealth's newborn screening program for genetic disorders to include approximately 30 or more conditions that cause mental retardation, serious disability, or death if left untreated. The screening tests to be included in Virginia's panel of disorders will be consistent with, but not necessarily identical to, the uniform condition panel recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics in its 2004 report, Newborn Screening: Toward a Uniform Screening Panel and System. Upon the issuance of a panel of recommended tests by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Virginia's testing program will be consistent with, but not necessarily identical to, the federal guidance document. The Board of Health's regulations must include a list of conditions for which newborn screening tests are conducted pursuant to § 32.1-65, follow-up and referral protocols and necessary provisions to implement the newborn screening services, and any services available to the infants and children through the Children with Special Health Care Needs Program. The mandate for the increased testing will become effective on March 1, 2006; however, the Board of Health is required to promulgate emergency regulations. The second enactment clause of a 2002 Act of the General Assembly that required certain funding is repealed in order to ensure the integrity of the law.

S.B. 1185 Assisted living facilities; administrators to be licensed.

Patron: Puller

Assisted living facilities; administrators to be licensed. Requires administrators of assisted living facilities to be licensed by the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators within the Department of Health Professions. The bill renames the Board of Nursing Home Administrators as the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators. The licensing provisions shall not take effect until July 1, 2007. The Board of Long-Term Care Administrators shall submit the proposed criteria for licensing assisted living administrators to the chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health on or before January 1, 2006.

S.B. 1187 Assisted living facilities; civil penalties

Patron: Puller

Assisted living facilities; civil penalties.  Requires administrators of assisted living facilities to be licensed by the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators within the Department of Health Professions. The bill renames the Board of Nursing Home Administrators as the Board of Long-Term Care Administrators. The licensing provisions shall not take effect until July 1, 2007. The Board of Long-Term Care Administrators shall submit the proposed criteria for licensing assisted living facility administrators to the chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, Senate Committee on Education and Health, and Joint Commission on Health Care on or before January 1, 2006. The bill permits the Commissioner to issue an order of summary suspension of a license to operate an assisted living facility and adult day care center in cases of immediate and substantial threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents or participants. The bill increases the maximum civil penalties for assisted living facilities from $500 to $10,000 per inspection and directs that the civil penalties be paid to the newly created Assisted Living Facility Education and Technical Assistance Fund to provide education for staff of and technical assistance to assisted living facilities.

 

S.B. 1191 Indoor Clean Air Act; smoking restrictions, civil penalty.

Patron: Mims

Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act; civil penalties.  Moves the law restricting smoking in buildings and other enclosed areas from the title relating to local government (15.2) to the title relating to health (32.1) and prohibits smoking indoors in most buildings or enclosed areas frequented by the public. Exceptions to the smoking prohibition are provided for (i) private homes, private residences, and private automobiles, unless used as or in the operation of any establishment or facility in which smoking is prohibited; (ii) private functions; hotel, or motel rooms clearly designated as "smoking" rooms; (iii) hotel or motel rooms clearly designated as "smoking" rooms so long as such rooms do not exceed 25 percent of the total accommodations within the establishment that are offered for lease or rent to the public; (iv) bar or lounge areas separately enclosed from any establishment in which smoking is prohibited; (v) specialty tobacco stores; and (vi) private separately enclosed office or work areas that are not entered by the general public in the normal course of business or use of the premises unless a person who works in such private separately enclosed office or work area objects to smoking in such area. Signs stating "Warning: Smoking Permitted" must be posted by the proprietor of any exempt building or area when smoking is allowed. Any person who continues to smoke in an area in which smoking is prohibited after having been asked to refrain from smoking will be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $100. Civil penalties of $250 will be levied for subsequent offenses. Failure to comply with the building restrictions will subject proprietors to a $200 civil penalty for the first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. Any law enforcement officer may issue a summons regarding a violation of this law. The Board of Health and the Commissioner of Labor and Industry will jointly promulgate regulations to enforce these requirements and must annually report on their enforcement efforts by January 15, beginning in 2006. The bill sets out relevant definitions and notes that any proprietor of a building or area excepted has the right to prohibit smoking and that any principal or other administrator of an educational facility may adopt smoking prohibitions that are more stringent, including restrictions on smoking in areas on the facility's campus that are not enclosed; that signs will not be required on private homes or residences or private vehicles; and that the new chapter must not be construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise prohibited by the proprietor of any establishment, building, or area or by other applicable law. Enactment clauses repeal the present title relating to counties, cities, and towns and postpone the effective date for prohibiting smoking in such bars and lounges that are not separately enclosed from other establishments until July 1, 2006, and authorize, until such time, smoking in bars and lounges to the same extent as allowed under present law or ordinances.

S.B. 1203 Charge for copying health records.

Patron: Mims

Charge for copying health records.  Distinguishes between the charges that may be levied by a health care provider (also referred to as "health care entity") for copies of health records when the patient requests his own health records and the records are subpoenaed or otherwise requested by a third party. The patient (individual who is the subject of the record) will be charged "a reasonable cost-based fee" that will only include costs of supplies and labor, postage, and preparation of any summary of the information. Current charges authorized for copies in anticipation of litigation or in the course of litigation will not apply to patients requesting their own records.

S.B. 1208 Patient safety; establishment of toll-free hotline for reports, & protection of health records.

Patron: Mims

Patient protections; safety.  Requires the Department of Health (i) to establish a confidential toll-free hotline for reports on patient safety and quality of patient care in hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities that may be made anonymously or in the name of any health care provider or consumer; (ii) respond to complaints and provide a concise description of any action taken pursuant to the complaint; and (iii) prohibits retaliation against complainants.

The bill also requires facilities to develop, implement, and assure compliance with a patient safety plan and to submit the patient safety plan to the Department of Health prior to the date of license renewal. All facilities and all physicians are required to report serious medical errors to the patient who was the subject of the error and to the Board of Medicine.  The facilities must require medical error reports from physicians with practice privileges, contracts with or employed by the facilities, which must be, in turn, reported to the Board of Health.  The Board of Health must require that the reports of serious medical errors received by hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities be submitted to the patient-level database.

The bill also prohibits alteration, destruction or discarding of an individual's health record in an effort to conceal any serious medical error. Any physician of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry found liable in three or more medical malpractice suits in a three-year period will be investigated to determine whether he is violating the regulatory law and should be the subject of a license revocation proceeding. The Director of the Department of Health Professions is authorized to provide a summary of any action taken as a result of a complaint to the complainant.

S.B. 1214 Early childhood education; availability in all school divisions for four- and five-year olds.

Patron: Edwards

Early childhood education.  Requires, on and after July 1, 2010, all school divisions to provide early childhood education programs for four-year-olds and five-year-olds who are not eligible to attend kindergarten or at-risk early childhood education programs and whose parents voluntarily wish to enroll them in such programs. These mandated early childhood education programs must be coordinated with the current at-risk early childhood programs, consistent with the Department's guidelines for early childhood education, and meet the standards established by the Board of Education. The Board of Education is required to promulgate regulations to implement the orderly phase-in of the required programs with the current voluntary programs for at-risk four-year-olds and at-risk five-year-olds who are not eligible to attend kindergarten. An enactment clause provides that the implementation and funding of the required public school early childhood education programs will be as set forth in the appropriation act. The grants for the at-risk programs may continue to be funded in public schools or other local agencies; however, the Standards of Quality funding of early childhood education will only be provided to public schools.

S.B. 1237 Brain Injury Waiver; licensing authority.

Patron: Puller

Brain Injury Waiver; licensing authority. Authorizes the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (DMHMRSAS) to license providers of services under the Medicaid Brain Injury Waiver and providers of residential services for persons with brain injury. The bill defines "brain injury" for waiver purposes and requires the Department of Rehabilitative Services to collaborate with DMHMRSAS in activities related to the licensing of Brain Injury Waiver service providers. The bill requires the State Board of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to promulgate necessary regulations within 280 days of enactment.