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1996 SESSION

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960557352
HOUSE BILL NO. 617 AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions on February 6, 1996) (Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Melvin) A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 10 of Title 32.1 a section numbered 32.1-330.2, relating to Medicaid managed care plans; program information documents.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 10 of Title 32.1 a section numbered 32.1-330.2, as follows:

§ 32.1-330.2. Medicaid managed care programs; program information documents; plain language required.

A. Whenever medical assistance services pursuant to this chapter are furnished through managed care programs, all program information documents furnished recipients covered thereunder shall be written in nontechnical, readily understandable language, using words of common, everyday usage:

B. Each sponsor or administrator of any such managed care program shall test the readability of its program information documents by use of the Flesch Readability Formula, as set forth in Rudolf Flesch, The Art of Readable Writing (1949, as revised 1974), and no program information document shall be used unless it achieves a Flesch total readability score of forty or more. The requirements of this subsection shall not apply to language which is mandated by federal or state laws, regulations or agencies.

C. All program information documents within the scope of this section, and all amendments thereto, shall be filed with the Department of Medical Assistance Services in advance of their use and distribution, accompanied by certificates setting forth the Flesch scores and certifying compliance with the requirements of this section. Any program information document which is exempt from the requirements of subsection B shall be accompanied by a documentation of the federal or state law, regulation or agency mandate that authorizes the exemption.

D. For the purpose of this section, the term "program information documents" means all forms, brochures, handbooks or other documentation (i) provided recipients covered under Medicaid managed care programs, and (ii) describing the programs' medical care coverages and the rights and responsibilities of recipients covered thereunder.

2. That the provisions of this act shall become effective January 1, 1997.