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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2017 SESSION
Chairman: Stephen D. Newman
Clerk: Patty Lung, Rhonda Johnson
Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: February 9, 2017
Time and Place: 8:30 a.m. - Senate Room B
Revised
Patron: Farrell
Certificate of public need; psychiatric beds and services. Repeals the requirement for a certificate of public need for certain projects involving mental hospitals or psychiatric hospitals and intermediate care facilities established primarily for the medical, psychiatric, or psychological treatment and rehabilitation of individuals with substance abuse. The bill creates a new permitting process for such projects, exempted from the certificate of public need process, that requires the Commissioner of Health to issue a permit upon the agreement of the applicant to certain charity care conditions and quality of care standards.
Patron: Garrett
Emergency custody or involuntary admission process; alternative transportation model. Directs the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Director of Criminal Justice Services, in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders, to develop a comprehensive model for the use of alternative transportation providers to provide safe and efficient transportation of individuals involved in the emergency custody or involuntary admission process as an alternative to transportation by law enforcement. The bill requires that the model be completed by October 1, 2017, and reported to the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the 21st Century, the House Committee for Courts of Justice, and the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice.
Patron: Head
Sight and hearing testing of public school students; exception. Excludes from the requirement that the sight and hearing of public school students be tested any student who has an Individualized Education Program or a Section 504 Plan that documents a defect of vision or hearing or a disease of the eyes or ears when the principal determines that such a test would not identify any previously unknown defect of vision or hearing or a disease of the eyes or ears.
Patron: LaRock
Dispensing of naloxone. Allows a person who is authorized by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to train individuals on the administration of naloxone for use in opioid overdose reversal and who is acting on behalf of an organization that provides services to individuals at risk of experiencing opioid overdose or training in the administration of naloxone for overdose reversal and that has obtained a controlled substances registration from the Board of Pharmacy pursuant to § 54.1-3423 to dispense naloxone to a person who has completed a training program on the administration of naloxone for opioid overdose reversal, provided that such dispensing is (i) pursuant to a standing order issued by a prescriber, (ii) in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, and (iii) without charge or compensation. The bill also provides that dispensing may occur at a site other than that of the controlled substance registration provided the entity possessing the controlled substance registration maintains records in accordance with regulations of the Board of Pharmacy. The bill further provides that a person who dispenses naloxone shall not be liable for civil damages of ordinary negligence for acts or omissions resulting from the rendering of such treatment if he acts in good faith and that a person to whom naloxone has been dispensed pursuant to the provisions of the bill may possess naloxone and may administer naloxone to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Orrock
Dental hygiene; remote supervision. Eliminates the requirement that a dental hygienist providing dental hygiene services under remote supervision be employed by the supervising dentist; clarifies continuing education requirements for dental hygienists practicing under remote supervision; eliminates the requirement for written permission to treat a patient from a dentist who has treated the patient in the previous 12 months; and allows a dental hygienist practicing under remote supervision to treat a patient who provides verbal confirmation that he does not have a dentist of record whom he is seeing regularly. The bill eliminates the requirement that a dental hygienist practicing under remote supervision consult with the supervising dentist prior to providing further dental hygiene services if the patient is medically compromised or has periodontal disease and allows a dental hygienist practicing under remote supervision to provide further dental hygiene services in accordance with a written practice protocol developed and provided by the supervising dentist, which shall consider, at minimum, the medical complexity of the patient and the presenting signs and symptoms of oral disease. The bill requires a supervising dentist who conducts the examination of the patient or refers the patient to another dentist for examination following the 90-day period during which a dental hygienist is permitted to provide dental hygiene services under remote supervision to develop a diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient.
Patron: Bell, Richard P.
Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to amend regulations governing licensure of providers to include certain definitions. Requires the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to amend regulations to include (I) occupational therapists in the definitions of "Qualified Mental Health Professional - Adult," "Qualified Mental Health Professional - Child," and "Qualified Mental Retardation Professional" and (ii) occupational therapy assistants in the definition of "Qualified Paraprofessional in Mental Health." In amending these definitions, the Board shall require educational and clinical experience for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants that is substantially equivalent to comparable professionals listed in the current regulations. The bill requires the Board to enact regulations to be effective within 280 days.
Patron: Bell, Richard P.
Board of Medicine to amend regulations governing licensure of occupational therapists to specify Type 1 continuous learning activities. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend regulations governing licensure of occupational therapists to provide that Type 1 continuing learning activities that shall be completed by the practitioner prior to renewal of a license shall consist of an organized program of study, classroom experience, or similar educational experience that is related to a licensee's current or anticipated roles and responsibilities in occupational therapy and approved or provided by one of the following organizations or any of its components: the Virginia Occupational Therapy Association; the American Occupational Therapy Association; the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy; a local, state, or federal government agency; a regionally accredited college or university; or a health care organization accredited by a national accrediting organization granted authority by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to assure compliance with Medicare conditions of participation. Such regulations shall also provide that Type 1 continuing learning activities may also include an American Medical Association Category 1 Continuing Medical Education program. The bill further provides that the Board of Medicine shall not deem maintenance of any certification provided by such organization as sufficient to fulfill continuing learning requirements for occupational therapists.
Patron: Farrell
Requirements for ophthalmic prescriptions. Requires, for ophthalmic prescriptions written on or after July 1, 2017, that an ophthalmologist or optometrist to establish a bona fide provider-patient relationship with a patient prior to prescribing spectacles, eyeglasses, lenses, or contact lenses, and sets out requirements for establishing such relationship, which includes options for examination of the patient either in person or through face-to-face interactive, two-way, real-time communication or store-and-forward technologies.
Patron: Bell, Richard P.
Public institutions of higher education; academic credit for American Sign Language courses. Requires each public institution of higher education to count credit received for successful completion of American Sign Language courses (i) either in a secondary school or another institution of higher education toward satisfaction of the foreign language entrance, placement, and course credit requirements of the public institution of higher education and (ii) at the institution toward satisfaction of its foreign language course credit requirements.
Patron: Bell, Richard P.
Student discipline; long-term suspension. Reduces the maximum length of a long-term suspension from 364 calendar days to 90 school days. The bill prohibits a long-term suspension from extending beyond any 45 school day period unless the school principal or division superintendent finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the local school board. The bill requires the length of any long-term suspension that extends beyond any 45 school day period shall be reviewed at the end of each such period.
Patron: Bell, Richard P.
Public schools; student discipline. Prohibits students in preschool through grade three from being suspended for more than five school days or expelled except for drug offenses, firearm offenses, or certain criminal acts.
Patron: Robinson
Board of Nursing; powers and duties. Authorizes the Board of Nursing to deny or withdraw approval from training programs for failure to meet prescribed standards. Under current law, the Board has such power for educational programs.
Patron: Farrell
Advance directives; mental health treatment; capacity determinations. Provides that in cases in which a person has executed an advance directive granting an agent the authority to consent to the person's admission to a facility for mental health treatment and the advance directive so authorizes, the person's agent may exercise such authority after a determination that the person is incapable of making an informed decision regarding such admission has been made by (i) the attending physician, (ii) a psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist, (iii) a licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner, or (iv) a designee of the local community services board as defined in § 37.2-809. The bill also provide that a person's agent may make a health care decision over the protest of the person if, in addition to other factors, at the time the advance directive was made, a licensed physician, licensed clinical psychologist, licensed physician assistant, licensed nurse practitioner, licensed professional counselor, or licensed clinical social worker who was familiar with the person attested in writing that the person was capable of making an informed decision and understood the consequences of the provision.
Patron: Farrell
Commitment hearings; sharing of records and information. Requires the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to provide electronic data, including individually identifiable information, on proceedings pursuant to Article 16 of Chapter 11 of Title 16.1 and Chapter 8 of Title 37.2 to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services upon request and provides that the Department may use such data for the purpose of developing and maintaining statistical archives, conducting research on the outcome of such proceedings, and preparing analyses and reports for use by the Department. The bill requires the Department to take all necessary steps to protect the security and privacy of the records and information provided pursuant to the provisions of the bill in accordance with the requirements of state and federal law and regulations governing health privacy.
Patron: Bulova
Local school boards; student and parent notification; career and technical education programs. Requires each local school board to implement a plan to notify students and their parents of the availability of career and technical education programs and to include annual notice on its website to enrolled high school students and their parents of the opportunity for such students to obtain a nationally recognized career readiness certificate at a local public high school, comprehensive community college, or workforce center.
Patron: Orrock
Medicaid applications; information about advance directives. Requires all entities approved by the Board of Medical Assistance Services to receive applications and to determine eligibility for medical assistance to provide each applicant for medical assistance with information about advance directives pursuant to Article 8 (§§54.1-2981 et seq.) of Chapter 29 of Title 54.1, including information about the purpose and benefits of advance directives and how the applicant may make an advance directive.
Patron: Orrock
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Virginia State University; purpose and programs. Declares it the intent of the General Assembly that in order to support a strong Commonwealth and to fulfill the principles of the federal Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890 and Smith-Lever Act of 1914 (7 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.), the Commonwealth's two land-grant universities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Virginia State University, shall maintain strong programs of instruction, research, and the extension of knowledge in agriculture, natural resources, family and consumer sciences, community viability, youth development, and such other fields as are necessary to fulfill their respective land-grant missions.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Students who receive home instruction; participation in interscholastic programs. Prohibits public schools from joining an organization governing interscholastic programs that does not deem eligible for participation a student who (i) receives home instruction; (ii) has demonstrated evidence of progress for two consecutive academic years; (iii) is in compliance with immunization requirements; (iv) is entitled to free tuition in a public school;(v) has not reached the age of 19 by August 1 of the current academic year;(vi) is an amateur who receives no compensation but participates solely for the educational, physical, mental, and social benefits of the activity;(vii) complies with all disciplinary rules and is subject to all codes of conduct applicable to all public high school athletes; and (viii) complies with all other rules governing awards, all-star games, maximum consecutive semesters of high school enrollment, parental consents, physical examinations, and transfers applicable to all high school athletes. The bill provides that no local school board is required to establish a policy to permit students who receive home instruction to participate in interscholastic programs. The bill permits reasonable fees to be charged to students who receive home instruction to cover the costs of participation in such interscholastic programs, including the costs of additional insurance, uniforms, and equipment. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2022.
Patron: James
Comprehensive community colleges; academic credit. Requires the State Board for Community Colleges to require each comprehensive community college to develop policies and procedures for awarding academic credit to enrolled students who have successfully completed a state-approved registered apprenticeship credential.
Patron: Garrett
Drug Control Act; Schedule I. Adds certain chemical substances to Schedule I of the Drug Control Act. The Board of Pharmacy has added these substances to Schedule I in an expedited regulatory process. A substance added via this process is removed from the schedule after 18 months unless a general law is enacted adding the substance to the schedule. The bill also removes two substances, benzylfentanyl and thienylfentanyl, from Schedule I. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Tyler
Chief Medical Examiner; appointment, terms,and authority of medical examiners. Provides that the Chief Medical Examiner may appoint a medical examiner for each county or city in the Commonwealth. Under current law, the Chief Medical Examiner is required to do so. The bill authorizes appointed medical examiners to assist the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner with cases requiring medicolegal death investigations. Finally, the bill clarifies that the appointment of a medical examiner to fill a vacancy is not required to start on October 1 of the year of appointment, and the term length of such appointment is for the unexpired term.
Patron: Robinson
Mobile food units; licenses. Directs the Department of Health to issue a license in the form of a sticker to a restaurant that is a mobile food unit that meets the requirements for licensure and requires the licensee to prominently display the license on the mobile food unit.
Patron: Hope
Possession and administration of naloxone. Adds Department of Forensic Science employees, employees of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and employees of the Department of General Services Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services to the groups of individuals who may possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist, provided that they have completed a training program. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Bulova
Palliative care information and resources. Requires the Department of Health to make information about and resources on palliative care available to the public, health care providers, and health care facilities on its website.
Patron: Villanueva
Practice of chiropractic; certain medical evaluations. Provides that the practice of chiropractic medicine shall include performing the physical examination of an application for a commercial driver's license or commerciallearner's permit if the practitioner has (i) applied for and received a certificate as a medical examiner from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in accordance with 49 C.F.R. Part 390, Subpart D and (ii) registered with the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. The bill also provides that it shall be unprofessional conduct for any person to perform the services of a medical examiner as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 390.5 if, at the time such services are performed, the person performing such services is not listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners or fails to meet the requirements for continuing to be listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.
Patron: Anderson
State Board for Community Colleges; reduced rate tuition and mandatory fee charges; certain students who are active duty members of the Armed Forces of the United States. Permits the State Board for Community Colleges to charge reduced rate tuition and mandatory fees to any student who is (i) an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States stationed outside of the Commonwealth; (ii) enrolled in a degree program at a comprehensive community college, provided that any such comprehensive community college that offers online degree programs is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity; and (iii) enrolled in training that leads to a Military Occupational Specialty in the Army or Marine Corps, an Air Force Specialty Code, or a Navy Enlisted Classification.
Patron: Ransone
Department of Health; review rules governing dispatch and use of air transportation services providers in emergency medical situations. Directs the Department of Health to convene a work group to review the rules governing use of air transportation services, also known as air ambulances, in emergency medical situations and protocols for the dispatch of air transportation services in response to emergency medical situations and to provide recommendations for changes to such rules or protocols. The Department shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2017.
Patron: O'Bannon
Advance medical directives; person authorized to provide assistance in completing. Defines "qualified advance directive facilitator" as a person who has successfully completed a training program approved by the Department of Health for providing assistance in completing and executing a written advance directive; establishes requirements for training programs for qualified advance directive facilitators; and provides that distribution of a form for an advance directive that meets the requirements of § 54.1-2984 and the provision of ministerial assistance to a person with regard to the completion or execution of such form shall not constitute the unauthorized practice of law.
Patron: O'Bannon
Dispensing of naloxone; patient-specific order not required. Provides that a pharmacist may dispense naloxone in the absence of a patient-specific prescription pursuant to a standing order issued by the Commissioner of Health authorizing the dispensing of naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal in the absence of an oral or written order for a specific patient issued by a prescriber and in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health.
Patron: O'Bannon
Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth; mission. Expands the mission of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to include the reduction and prevention of substance use by youth in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Garrett
Practice of telemedicine; prescribing. Provides that a health care practitioner who performs or has performed an appropriate examination of the patient, either physically or by the use of instrumentation and diagnostic equipment, for the purpose of establishing a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship may prescribe Schedule II through VI controlled substances to the patient, provided that the prescribing of such controlled substance is in compliance with federal requirements for the practice of telemedicine. The bill also authorizes the Board of Pharmacy to register an entity at which a patient is treated by the use of instrumentation and diagnostic equipment for the purpose of establishing a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship and is prescribed Schedule II through VI controlled substances to possess and administer Schedule II through VI controlled substances when such prescribing is in compliance with federal requirements for the practice of telemedicine and the patient is not in the physical presence of a practitioner registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Freitas
Teacher licensure; career and technical education; certain local waivers. Permits each local school board or division superintendent to waive certain enumerated licensure requirements for any teacher seeking initial licensure or renewal of a license with an endorsement in the area of career and technical education.
Patron: Hodges
Persons with developmental disabilities; terminology. Corrects numerous sections of the Code of Virginia by replacing the term "intellectual disability" with "developmental disabilities" as appropriate.
Patron: Stolle
Hospitals providing psychiatric services; denials of admission. Requires the Board of Health to promulgate regulations that require each hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services to establish a protocol that (i) requires, for any refusal to admit a medically stable patient referred to its psychiatric unit, direct verbal communication between the on-call physician in the psychiatric unit and the referring physician, if requested by the referring physician, and (ii) prohibits on-call physicians or other hospital staff from refusing a request for such direct verbal communication by a referring physician.
Patron: O'Bannon
Donation of organs by persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Allows for the donation of organs by persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus when (i) the recipient of such organ is informed that such organ is infected with human immunodeficiency virus and, following such notice, consents to the receipt of such organ and (ii) acquisition and transplantation of such organ is in compliance with the provisions of the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, 42 U.S.C. § 274f-5.
Patron: O'Bannon
Board of Pharmacy to deschedule or reschedule controlled substances. Authorizes the Board of Pharmacy (Board) to designate, deschedule, or reschedule as a controlled substance any substance 30 days after publication in the Federal Register of a final or interim final order or rule designating such substance as a controlled substance or descheduling or rescheduling such substance. Under current law, the Board may act 120 days from such publication date. The bill also provides that a person is immune from prosecution for prescribing, administering, dispensing, or possessing pursuant to a valid prescription a substance approved as a prescription drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on or after July 1, 2017, in accordance with a final or interim final rule despite the fact that such substance has not been scheduled by the Board. The immunity provided by the bill remains in effect until the earlier of (i) nine months from the date of the publication of the interim final rule or, if published within nine months of the interim final rule, the final rule or (ii) the substance is scheduled by the Board or by law.
Patron: Stolle
Confidentiality of tests for human immunodeficiency virus; release of information. Clarifies that information about the results of tests to determine infection with human immunodeficiency virus shall be released only to persons or entities permitted or authorized to obtain protected health information under any applicable federal or state law.
Patron: Cox
Death certificates; filing. Provides that a non-electronically filed death certificate may be filed in any registration district in the Commonwealth. Under current law, death certificates are required to be filed in the district in which the death occurs.
Patron: Hugo
Prescription of opioids; limits. Requires a prescriber registered with the Prescription Monitoring Program to request information about a patient from the Prescription Monitoring Program upon initiating a new course of treatment that includes prescribing of opioids anticipated, at the onset of treatment, to last more than seven days. The bill also extends the sunset for this requirement from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2022.
Patron: Yost
Public institutions of higher education; resident assistants; mental health first aid training. Requires each resident assistant in a student housing facility at a public institution of higher education to participate in mental health first aid training prior to the commencement of his duties.
Patron: Bagby
Public schools; suspensions. Directs the Board of Education to establish guidelines for alternatives to short-term and long-term suspension for consideration by local school boards.
Patron: Massie
Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program; Expected Family Contribution. Broadens eligibility for the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program by including students whose Expected Family Contribution, as calculated by the federal government using the family's financial information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), is no more than $12,000. Currently the program is available only to students whose Expected Family Contribution is no more than $8,000. The bill does not affect additional eligibility requirements for the Two-Year College Transfer Grant Program.
Patron: Greason
School calendar; opening day of the school year. Makes local school boards responsible for setting the school calendar and determining the opening day of the school year and eliminates the post-Labor Day opening requirement and "good cause" scenarios for which the Board of Education may grant waivers of this requirement. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Students who receive home instruction; dual enrollment courses. Requires each school board to permit any student who receives home instruction and resides in the local school division to apply for enrollment as a part-time student, as defined in the general appropriation act, of the local school division in any dual enrollment course offered pursuant to an agreement for postsecondary degree attainment at a public high school in the local school division or at the comprehensive community college. The bill specifies that no such student shall be required to pay more in tuition or fees than the tuition or fees paid by public school students or the school division of residence on behalf of such students to enroll in such course.
Patron: Keam
Board of Education; biennial review of the standards of quality; odd-numbered years. Changes from even-numbered years to odd-numbered years the biennial review of the standards of quality that is required of the Board of Education.
Patron: Murphy
Postsecondary schools; enrollment agreement. Prohibits postsecondary schools from enrolling students without entering into an enrollment agreement with each student. The enrollment agreement is required to be signed by the student and an authorized representative of the school and to contain all disclosures prescribed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
Patron: Murphy
Prescription drug orders; information on proper disposal. Requires the Board of Pharmacy to develop guidelines for the provision of counseling and information regarding proper disposal of unused dispensed drugs, including information about pharmacy drug disposal programs in which the pharmacy may participate, to a patient for whom a prescription is dispensed.
Patron: Watts
Nursing home family councils; rights of family members. Provides that rights of a nursing home resident's family to meet in the facility with the families of other residents of the facility by attending meetings of the family council shall not be restricted.
Patron: Byron
Health care providers; data collection. Defines "charity care" and "bad debt" as used in the context of certificate of public need, establishes a uniform framework for determining the value of charity care provided, and requires health care providers to report data on (i) the total amount of charity care, as defined in § 32.1-102.1, that the facility provides to indigent persons; (ii) the number of patients to whom charity care is provided; (iii) the specific services delivered to patients that are reported as charity care; and (iv) the portion of the total amount of charity care provided that each service represents. The bill also requires health care providers to report data and information identifying any parent company of the health care provider and any subsidiary company of the health care provider and requires every hospital that receives a disproportionate share hospital adjustment to report the number of inpatient days attributable to patients eligible for both Medicare Part A and Supplemental Security Income, the number of inpatient days attributed to patients eligible for Medicaid but not Medicare Part A, and the total amount of the disproportionate share hospital adjustment received.
Patron: LeMunyon
Teacher turnover; exit questionnaire; pilot program. Requires the Department of Education (the Department) to develop and oversee a pilot program to administer across five geographically and demographically diverse school divisions the model exit questionnaire for teachers developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (the Superintendent), analyze the results of each such questionnaire, and include such results and analysis in the Superintendent's annual report beginning in 2018. The bill requires the Department to (i) administer such questionnaire to each teacher who ceases to be employed by the relevant school board for any reason and (ii) collect, maintain, and report on the results of each such questionnaire in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of each teacher's name and other personally identifying information.
Patron: LeMunyon
Board of Education; report on the condition and needs of public education; local school division reports. Requires the Board of Education's annual report on the condition and needs of public education in the Commonwealth to include an explanation of the need to retain or maintain the frequency of any report that local school divisions are required to submit to the Board of Education or any other state agency; any recommendation for the elimination, reduction in frequency, or consolidation of such reports when such elimination, reduction in frequency, or consolidation would require an amendment to the laws of the Commonwealth; and a description of any other such report that the Board has eliminated, reduced in frequency, or consolidated.
Patron: Rasoul
Durable Do Not Resuscitate Orders; reciprocity. Provides that a Durable Do Not Resuscitate order or other order regarding life-sustaining treatment executed in accordance with the laws of another state in which such order was executed shall be deemed to be valid and shall be given full effect in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Pillion
Prescription of buprenorphine without naloxone; limitation. Provides that for the purpose of treating substance use disorder, products containing buprenorphine without naloxone shall be issued only for a patient who is pregnant. This bill contains an emergency clause. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2022.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Pillion
Drugs of concern; gabapentin. Adds any material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing any quantity of gabapentin, including any of its salts, to the list of drugs of concern. This bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Pillion
Opiate prescriptions; electronic prescriptions. Requires a prescription for any controlled substance containing an opiate to be issued as an electronic prescription and prohibits a pharmacist from dispensing a controlled substance that contains an opiate unless the prescription is issued as an electronic prescription, beginning July 1, 2020. The bill defines electronic prescription as a written prescription that is generated on an electronic application and provides that Schedule II through V prescriptions must be transmitted in accordance with 21 C.F.R. Part 1300. The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group to review actions necessary for the implementation of the bill's provisions and to evaluate hardships on prescribers and the inability of prescribers to comply with the deadline for electronic prescribing and to make recommendations for any extension or exemption processes relative to compliance or disruptions due to natural or manmade disasters or technology gaps, failures, or interruptions of service. The bill requires the work group to report on its progress to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2017 and a final report to such Chairmen by November 1, 2018.
Patron: Pillion
Boards of Dentistry and Medicine; regulations for the prescribing of opioids and buprenorphine. Directs the Boards of Dentistry and Medicine to adopt regulations for the prescribing of opioids and products containing buprenorphine. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Edmunds
Southern Virginia Higher Education Center. Replaces the superintendent of the Halifax County Public Schools as an ex officio member of the board of trustees of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center with a superintendent of a public school division located in the Southside region appointed by the Governor. The bill also broadens the eligibility requirements to serve as one of the representatives of business and industry on the board of trustees.
The bill also requires the board to seek to collaborate with local comprehensive community colleges to meet specialized noncredit workforce training needs identified by industry. However if the local comprehensive community college is unable to meet such needs, then the board is authorized to seek to collaborate with other educational providers or offer Center-delivered specialized noncredit workforce training.
Patron: Yost
Medicaid; eligibility of incarcerated individuals. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to convene a work group to identify and develop processes for streamlining the application and enrollment process for the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services and the FAMIS program for eligible incarcerated individuals so that applicable services shall be available to such individuals immediately upon release from the correctional facility, and to report its findings and recommendations by November 30, 2017.
Patron: Head
Hospital data reporting; charity care and other activities. Defines "charity care" as care provided in accordance with a provider's policy of providing health care services free of charge or at a reduced rate because of the indigence or medical indigence of the patient. The bill requires all hospitals, doctors of medicine and osteopathy, and dentists licensed to practice as oral and maxillofacial surgeons to whom a certificate of public need has been issued to establish charity care policies and post information about such policies in a public place; requires health care providers to submit to the Commissioner of Health data on the amount of charity care provided; provides that the value of charity care shall be determined in accordance with fee schedules for Medicare services established by CMS; provides that in the case of a health care provider providing services at more than one facility, charity care shall be reported for each facility at which services are provided and shall not be aggregated by the provider; and requires not-for-profit hospitals to (i) conduct community needs assessments and develop strategies to meet the needs identified, (ii) establish financial assistance policies for patients, (iii) establish limits on charges for emergency and other medically necessary care for individuals eligible for assistance under the financial assistance policy, and (iv) ensure that the hospital does not engage in extraordinary actions to collect amounts owed before determining whether the person is eligible for financial assistance. The bill also requires not-for-profit hospitals to report annually to the Commissioner of Health on (a) the outcomes of the community needs assessment and the implementation of the strategy developed to meet the community health needs identified through such assessment; (b) the financial assistance policy and the utilization thereof; and (c) the steps the hospital has undertaken to determine whether a person to whom services have been delivered is eligible for assistance under the hospital's financial assistance policy and efforts of the hospital to ensure that any collections activities undertaken by the hospital to collect amounts owed by such persons are not extraordinary action. Such report shall also include (1) a statement disclosing any for-profit subsidiaries owned by the not-for-profit hospital and (2) a statement of the amount of compensation paid by the not-for-profit hospital to executive staff of the hospital.
Patron: Filler-Corn
High school family life education curricula; elements of effective and evidence-based programs on consent. Requires any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the law and meaning of consent.
Patron: Cline
Department of Health; restrictions on expenditure of funds related to abortions and family planning services. Prohibits the Department of Health from spending any funds on an abortion that is not qualified for matching funds under the Medicaid program or providing any grants or other funds to any entity that performs such abortions. The bill also prioritizes the types of entities that the Department of Health contracts with or provides grants to for family planning services.
Patron: Wilt
Death certificate; amendments. Provides that, for death certificate amendments other than the correction of information by the State Registrar, including changing the name of the deceased, the deceased's parent or spouse, or the informant, the marital status of the deceased, or the place of residence of the deceased, when the place of residence is outside the Commonwealth, the surviving spouse or immediate family of the deceased may file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city in which the decedent resided as of the date of his death, or the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, requesting an order to amend such death certificate. The bill requires service of the petition upon the State Registrar and upon any person listed as a relative or informant on such death certificate. The bill directs the clerk to submit the petition and evidence to the judge for entry of an order without a hearing, unless the judge decides a hearing is necessary. The bill requires the clerk to transmit a copy of the court's order to the State Registrar, who shall amend the death certificate in accordance with such order.
Patron: Marshall, D.W.
Licensure of doctors of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, and podiatry; requirements. Eliminates the requirement that supervised clinical training that is received in the United States as part of the curriculum of an international medical school be obtained in an approved hospital, institution, or school of medicine offering an approved residency program in the specialty area for the relevant clinical training or in a program acceptable to the Board of Medicine (Board) and deemed a substantially equivalent experience. The bill also eliminates the authority of the Board to consider other factors that reflect whether an educational institution is acceptable to the Board for the purpose of satisfying educational and training requirements for licensure. The bill also repeals the requirement for supplemental training or study for graduates of institutions not approved by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board.
Patron: Leftwich
Certain school board employees; training on the prevention of trafficking of children. Requires each school board to ensure that each guidance counselor and school nurse that it employs receives training on the prevention of trafficking of children using awareness and training materials provided by the Board of Education and the Department of Social Services.
Patron: Ward
Driver education programs; instruction concerning traffic stops. Requires each driver education program in the public school system to include instruction concerning traffic stops, including law-enforcement procedures for traffic stops, appropriate actions to be taken by drivers during traffic stops, and appropriate interactions with law-enforcement officers who initiate traffic stops.
Patron: O'Bannon
Licensed practical nurses; administration of vaccinations. Removes the requirement that the supervision of licensed practical nurses administering vaccinations by registered nurses be immediate and direct.
Patron: Hope
Arlington County School Board; maximum salary of members. Removes the $25,000 cap on the salary of certain members of the Arlington County School Board, thereby permitting each member of such school board to be paid a salary in accordance with the general procedures and limits that are applicable to elected school boards in the Commonwealth.
Patron: O'Bannon
Comprehensive harm reduction program; public health emergency. Authorizes the Commissioner of Health (Commissioner) to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs during a declared public health emergency that include the provision of sterile and disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes. The objectives of the programs are to reduce the spread of HIV, viral hepatitis, and other blood-borne diseases in Virginia, to reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases through needlestick injuries to law-enforcement and other emergency personnel, and to provide information to individuals who inject drugs regarding addiction recovery treatment services. The programs will be located in at-risk communities, in accordance with criteria established by the Department of Health.
The bill requires the Commissioner to establish standards and protocols for the comprehensive harm reduction programs and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Public Safety to approve such standards and protocols.
The bill also provides that the Commissioner may authorize persons who are not otherwise authorized by law to dispense or distribute hypodermic needles and syringes to dispense or distribute hypodermic needles and syringes as part of a comprehensive harm reduction program during a declared public health emergency. Such persons would not be subject to certain prohibitions against dispensing or distributing hypodermic needles and syringes, provided that they are acting in accordance with the standards and protocols of the comprehensive harm reduction program.
The bill requires the Department of Health to submit, to the Governor and to the General Assembly, a progress report concerning any such program established by October 1, 2018, and a report evaluating the effectiveness of any such program established by October 1, 2019. The provisions of the bill would sunset on July 1, 2020.
Patron: Tyler
Teacher compensation; goal. Defines, for the purpose of the stated goal of the Commonwealth for teacher compensation that its public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is competitive, the term "competitive" as, at a minimum, at or above the national average teacher compensation.
Patron: Pogge
Students receiving home instruction; participation in Advanced Placement and Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test examinations. Requires school boards to (i) make Advanced Placement (AP) and Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) examinations available to students receiving home instruction, (ii) adopt written policies that specify the date by which such students shall register to participate in such examinations, and (iii) notify such students and their parents of such registration deadline and the availability of financial assistance to low-income and needy students to take such examinations.
Patron: Bulova
School property; retail fee-based electric vehicle charging stations. Permits any school board to locate and operate retail fee-based electric vehicle charging stations on school property, provided that the use of each such station during the school day is restricted to school board employees, students, and authorized visitors and each such station is accompanied by appropriate signage that provides reasonable notice of such restriction.
Patron: Bulova
Licensure of school personnel; investigation of certain complaints; license revocation. Requires the Board of Education to include in its regulations governing the licensure of teachers and other school personnel procedures for the immediate and thorough investigation by the division superintendent or his designee of any complaint alleging that a license holder has engaged in conduct that may form the basis for the revocation of his license, including requirements for (i) the division superintendent to petition for the revocation of the license upon completing such investigation and finding that there is reasonable cause to believe that the license holder has engaged in conduct that forms the basis for revocation of a license; (ii) the school board to proceed to a hearing on such petition for revocation within 90 days of the mailing of a copy of the petition to the license holder, unless the license holder requests the cancellation of his license in accordance with Board regulations; and (iii) the school board to provide a copy of the investigative file and such petition for revocation to the Superintendent of Public Instruction at the time that the hearing is scheduled. The bill clarifies that in the case of a teacher who is or becomes the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse and neglect, such teacher shall be dismissed after all rights to any administrative appeal have been exhausted. Current law does not specify that such appeals are administrative in nature.
Patron: Garrett
Health and Human Resources Secretariat; single state agency for data collection and sharing; report. Provides that, to the extent authorized by federal law, the agencies of the Secretariat of Health and Human Resources may share data, records, and information about applicants for and recipients of services from the agencies of the Secretariat, including individually identifiable information, as required by the Secretary, for the purposes of (i) streamlining administrative processes and reducing administrative burdens on the agencies, (ii) reducing paperwork and administrative burdens on the applicants and recipients, and (iii) increasing access to and quality of services provided by the agencies. The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to report on the implementation of the provisions of this act by October 1, 2017.