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2020 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Health

Lewis (Chair), Saslaw, Barker, Dunnavant, Suetterlein

Clerk: Patty Lung, Catherine Dent
Staff: Julia Carlton, Anna Moir
Date of Meeting: January 21, 2020
Time and Place: 4:00 pm - Subcommittee Room 2, 5th Fl. Pocahontas Bldg.

S.B. 300

Patron: Stanley

Department of Medical Assistance Services; remote patient monitoring; rural and underserved populations. Amends the State Plan for Medical Assistance Services to require the payment of medical assistance for remote patient monitoring services for rural and underserved populations, with the home as an eligible telemedicine originating site. The bill requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services to prepare and submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services an application for such waiver or waivers as may be necessary to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill also requires the Department to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of such application or applications by October 1, 2020.

S.B. 301

Patron: Stanley

Medically underserved areas; emergency medical services; medical care facilities. Provides that emergency medical services vehicles may transport patients to 24-hour urgent care medical facilities or other appropriate medical facilities when deemed appropriate by emergency medical services personnel or a physician. The bill requires the Board of Health to develop regulations for when emergency medical services agencies in medically underserved areas as defined by the Board may transport patients to 24-hour urgent care facilities or appropriate medical care facilities other than hospitals. The regulations shall include provisions for what constitutes a medically underserved area, cases appropriate for transferring a patient to a medical facility other than a hospital, and other information deemed relevant by the Board.

S.B. 315

Patron: Kiggans

Hospitals; emergency departments; screening patients for depression. Requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health that operates an emergency department to develop a protocol for (i) screening each patient who receives services in the emergency department for depression and (ii) providing information about depression, symptoms of depression, services that may be available for individuals experiencing depression, and providers of such services to each patient for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the patient may be experiencing depression. The bill directs the Department to develop such information.

S.B. 317

Patron: Kiggans

Hospitals; inpatient psychiatric services; in-home follow-up care upon discharge. Requires each hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services to develop and implement a protocol for linking individuals who will be discharged from inpatient psychiatric care with in-home follow-up services, which may be provided by a licensed home health organization, community services board, or other appropriate service provider.

S.B. 386

Patron: McPike

Emergency Medical Services Patient Care Information System; trauma data; confidentiality. Authorizes the State Health Commissioner to disclose certain confidential data in the Emergency Medical Services Patient Care Information System, including information, research, or medical data that identifies patients by name or address, with entities that seek to improve the delivery of prehospital and hospital emergency medical services, the quality of patient care, and access to medical services or to make other system improvements.

S.B. 397

Patron: Kiggans

Nursing home standards of care and staff requirements; regulations. Increases the staffing and care standards in nursing homes to require a minimum of specific direct care services to each resident per 24-hour period and a minimum nursing staff-to-patient ratio of one to six. The bill requires nursing homes to complete a criminal background check on each employee prior to the start of employment and every five years thereafter that the employee remains employed. The bill also requires nursing homes to provide quarterly staff training on first aid, medication administration, and compliance with nursing home policies and procedures.

S.B. 471

Patron: Reeves

Department of Medical Assistance Services; contracts with managed care organizations; therapeutic day treatment. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to amend contracts with managed care organizations to ensure that eligible individuals are not denied coverage for therapeutic day treatment.

S.B. 521

Patron: McDougle

Office of Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability. Creates as an independent state agency the Office of Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability and charges the agency with the preparation of the Official Medicaid Forecast for the state, monthly oversight of Medicaid expenditures, review of the fiscal impact of policy changes, and other oversight and accountability responsibilities. The bill creates the position of Director of the Office of Medicaid Fiscal Oversight and Accountability, to be appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the General Assembly.

S.B. 568

Patron: Dunnavant

Board of Medical Assistance Services; state pharmacy benefits manager. Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services (the Board) to select, every four years, a third-party administrator to serve as the state pharmacy benefits manager used by Medicaid managed care organizations under the state plan for medical assistance. Under the bill, the state pharmacy benefits manager is responsible for all claims under the state plan. The bill requires the Board, in selecting the state pharmacy benefits manager, to establish eligibility criteria, develop a master contract to be used between the state pharmacy benefits manager and a Medicaid managed care organization, and establish mandatory disclosures for the applicants. The bill requires the state pharmacy benefits manager, in consultation with the Director of Medical Assistance Services (the Director), to develop a drug formulary for use when administering prescribed drug benefits on behalf of a Medicaid managed care organization under the state plan. The bill prohibits payments for drugs that exceed the per unit price on the formulary. The bill requires the Director to establish an appeals process by which pharmacies may appeal any disputes relating to the maximum allowable cost set by the state pharmacy benefits manager. The bill requires the state pharmacy benefits manager to provide a quarterly report to the Board containing certain information.

S.B. 738

Patron: Deeds

Temporary detention for observation and treatment. Clarifies that a person can be subject to a temporary detention order for observation and treatment related to intoxication, upon a finding that (i) probable cause exists to believe the person is incapable of making or communicating an informed decision regarding treatment due to intoxication and (ii) that observation, testing, or treatment is necessary within the next 24 hours to prevent injury, disability, death, or other harm to the individual resulting from such intoxication. The bill also provides for the tolling of an emergency custody order for the period during which the person who is the subject of the emergency custody order is also subject to a temporary detention order for observation and treatment.

S.B. 739

Patron: Deeds

Acute psychiatric bed registry; information required to be reported. Adds information about the (i) total number of licensed beds, (ii) total number of staffed beds, (iii) current bed utilization, (iv) change in bed utilization since the most recent update, (v) number of beds actually available, (vi) number of requests for admission received since the most recent update, (vii) number of individuals admitted since the most recent update, and (vii) number of requests for admission denied since the most recent update and the reason for each such denial to the list of information that must be submitted to the acute psychiatric bed registry (the registry) daily by each public and private inpatient psychiatric facility and every public and private residential crisis stabilization unit in the Commonwealth. The bill also directs the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to create a work group to evaluate the purpose, structure, and effectiveness of the registry and make recommendations for statutory, budgetary, or other actions necessary to redefine the purpose of the registry and improve its structure and effectiveness. The work group shall report its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the Commonwealth in the Twenty-First Century by November 1, 2020.

S.B. 757

Patron: Favola


Department of Health; Department of Health Professions Medical Excellence Zone Program; telemedicine; reciprocal agreements. Directs the Department of Health to determine the feasibility of the establishment of a Medical Excellence Zone Program and directs the Department of Health Professions to pursue reciprocal agreements with states contiguous with the Commonwealth for licensure for certain primary care practitioners under the Board of Medicine. The Medical Excellence Zone Program would allow citizens of the Commonwealth living in rural underserved areas to receive medical treatment via telemedicine services from providers licensed or registered in a state that is contiguous with the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department of Health to set out the criteria that would be required for a locality or group of localities in the Commonwealth to be eligible for the designation as a medical excellence zone and report its findings to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020.

The bill states that reciprocal agreements with states that are contiguous with the Commonwealth for the licensure of doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathic medicine, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners shall only require that a person hold a current, unrestricted license in the other jurisdiction and that no grounds exist for denial based on § 54.1-2915. The Department of Health Professions shall report on its progress in establishing such agreements to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2020. The bill provides that applicants for licensure as a doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine from such states shall receive priority in processing their applications for licensure by endorsement through a streamlined process with a final determination regarding qualification to be made within 20 days of the receipt of a completed application.

S.B. 903

Patron: Vogel

Hospitals; emergency treatment for substance use-related emergencies; services. Requires the Board of Health to amend regulations governing hospitals to require each hospital that provides emergency treatment to an individual experiencing a substance use-related emergency to (i) complete a comprehensive assessment to identify appropriate medical interventions necessary for the treatment of the individual; (ii) complete a comprehensive behavioral health assessment to determine whether additional treatment may be appropriate; (iii) initiate pharmacotherapy for treatment of drug or alcohol dependence, where appropriate; and (iv) provide the patient with naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal. Such regulations shall also require each hospital that provides emergency treatment to an individual experiencing a substance use-related emergency to establish and implement a protocol for connecting such patients receiving emergency treatment with appropriate community-based providers of behavioral health services upon discharge.

S.B. 913

Patron: Vogel

Home hospice programs; disposal of drugs; opioids. Specifies that hospice policies and procedures for the disposal of drugs must include provisions for the safe disposal of opioids.