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- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2020 SESSION
Lewis (Chair), Saslaw, Barker, Dunnavant, Suetterlein
Staff: Julia Carlton, Anna Moir
Date of Meeting: January 28, 2020
Time and Place: 4:00 pm - Subcommittee Room 2, 5th Fl. Pocahontas Bldg.
Patron: Dunnavant
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities; possession and administration of cannabidiol or THC-A oil. Allows nursing home and assisted living facility staff members who are authorized to possess, distribute, or administer medications to residents to store, dispense, or administer cannabidiol oil or THC-A oil to a resident who has been issued a valid written certification for such medication.
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.
Patron: Edwards
Virginia Hearing Loss Identification and Monitoring System; language development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Expands the responsibilities of the advisory committee of the Virginia Hearing Loss Identification and Monitoring System to include selecting language development milestones for educators and early intervention specialists for use in assessing the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf or hard or hearing. The bill requires the addition of at least two language experts to the advisory committee. The bill also requires that children identified as deaf or hard of hearing in special education programs be evaluated yearly on the basis of the language development milestones established by the advisory committee.
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.
Patron: McClellan
Virginia Human Rights Act; discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of persons related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Requires employers, defined in the bill, to make reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a person related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, if such accommodation is necessary to assist such person in performing a particular job, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer. The bill also prohibits employers from taking any adverse action against an employee who requests or uses a reasonable accommodation, and from denying employment or promotion opportunities to an otherwise qualified applicant or employee because such employer will be required to make reasonable accommodation to the applicant or employee. The bill creates a cause of action against any employer who denies any of the rights afforded by the bill, and permits the court or jury to award compensatory, punitive, and other damages. The bill makes technical amendments.
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.
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.
Patron: Pillion
Disposition of property previously used by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute. Authorizes the Governor to lease a portion of property previously used by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as the Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute to Smyth County for a term of three years. The bill also corrects tax map references contained in Chapter 678 of the Acts of Assembly of 2019, which also involved conveyances of property in Smyth County.
Patron: Pillion
Comprehensive harm reduction programs; public health emergency; repeal sunset. Repeals the sunset on the program established in 2017 that allows the Commissioner of Health to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs during a declared public health emergency that include a provision for the distribution of sterile hypodermic needles and syringes and the disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes.
Patron: Barker
Long-term care services and supports; preadmission screenings. Provides that every individual who applies for community or institutional long-term care services and supports as defined in the state plan for medical assistance services may choose to receive services in a community or institutional setting and may choose the setting and provider of long-term care services and supports from a list of approved providers. The bill also clarifies requirements related to the performance of such long-term care services and supports screenings.
Patron: Locke
State plan for medical assistance; doulas. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for the payment of medical assistance for antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum services provided to a pregnant person by a doula, including services for labor and delivery support and at least four visits during the antenatal period and seven visits during the postpartum period. The bill also directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to conduct a rate study to determine appropriate reimbursement rates for doula services provided to Medicaid recipients and to report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2020.
Patron: Locke
State Health Commissioner; local health director; additional degrees; variance. Requires that, in addition to existing qualifications, the State Health Commissioner possess a Doctor of Public Health degree, a Master of Public Health degree, or a doctorate in the area of public health. The bill allows local health directors to possess a Doctor of Public Health degree, a Master of Public Health degree, or a doctorate in the area of public health as an alternative to the current requirement that each local health director be a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth. The bill states that the Commissioner may grant a variance to a state law or regulation of the State Board of Health when the Commissioner determines that, upon review of an application from a county, city or town, the applicant for such variance has demonstrated that the implementation of a regulation would impose a substantial financial or programmatic hardship and the variance would not adversely affect the safety and well-being of residents of the county, city, or town or the Commonwealth.
Patron: Deeds
Clinical social workers; patient records; involuntary detention orders. Adds clinical social workers to the list of eligible providers that includes treating physicians and clinical psychologists who can disclose or recommend the withholding of patient records, face a malpractice review panel, and provide recommendations on involuntary temporary detention orders.
Patron: Deeds
Involuntary commitment; notice and participation; family members. Clarifies the role of family members and other individuals authorized to receive medical records and information about a person who is involved in the involuntary commitment process, including the family member or other person's right to receive medical records, notice of hearings, and copies of orders and to participate in hearings and the discharge planning process.
Patron: Deeds
Hospitals; custody of person subject to emergency custody order; regulations. Extends the maximum period of time during which a person may be involuntarily held pursuant to an emergency custody order from eight hours, or in some cases 12 hours, to 24 hours and requires the Board of Health to include in regulations governing hospitals a requirement that every hospital be licensed for and actually capable of accepting from law enforcement the transfer of custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order.