Legislative Update
Health General
| Bills | Committee | Last action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| HB 83 - Orrock - Mammograms; information on breast density. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/30/12 |
| notes: Requires the Board of Health to establish guidelines requiring all mammogram reports to include information on breast density. Such information shall inform patients with dense breast tissue, as determined by the physician, that supplementary screening tests may be beneficial, depending on individual risk factors. | |||
| HB 142 - Englin - Smoking; allows localities to ban in designated public parks. | (H) Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns | (H) Assigned CC & T sub: #2 | 01/24/12 |
| notes: Allows localities to ban smoking in designated public parks. | |||
| HB 165 - Hope - Geriatric prisoners; those at 60 may petition Parole Board for conditional release. | (H) Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Allows any prisoner serving a sentence imposed for a felony offense, other than a Class 1 felony, who has reached the age of 60 or older to petition the Parole Board for conditional release without regard to the number of years of his sentence he has served. Current law allows a 60-year-old prisoner to petition the Board after serving at least 10 years and a 65-year-old prisoner to petition the Board after serving at least five years of his sentence. | |||
| HB 177 - O'Bannon - Health records privacy; disclosure to emergency medical services councils. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/23/12 |
| notes: Provides that health care providers shall disclose health information to a regional emergency medical services council when the health information and data will be used for purposes limited to monitoring and improving the quality of emergency medical services. | |||
| HB 181 - O'Bannon - Registered nurse or physician assistant; authority to pronounce death. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/25/12 |
| notes: Adds registered nurses employed by and physician assistants working at continuing care retirement communities to the list of individuals who may pronounce death under certain circumstances. | |||
| HB 184 - O'Bannon - Medical Assistance Services, Board of; requires two members of Board to be fraud investigators. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/25/12 |
| notes: Requires that at least two members of the Board of Medical Assistance Services be individuals with significant professional experience in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of health care fraud. | |||
| HB 260 - Cole - Health care providers; prohibited acts. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 01/18/12 |
| notes: Provides that any person who is licensed, registered, certified, or otherwise subject to the oversight of a health regulatory board who knowingly or intentionally makes any false statement or includes any false information in a patient's medical record shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, and that any individual who knowingly or intentionally makes a false statement or provides false information related to the subject of an investigation to investigative personnel of the Department of Health Professions engaged in the investigation of a complaint shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. | |||
| HB 264 - Peace - Interstate Health Care Compact; established. | (H) Committee on Rules | (H) Continued to 2013 in Rules | 01/31/12 |
| notes: Creates the Interstate Health Care Compact to (i) secure the right of the member states to regulate health care in their respective states pursuant to the compact and to suspend the operation of any conflicting federal laws, rules, regulations, and orders within their states and (ii) secure federal funding for member states that choose to invoke their authority under the compact. The bill also creates the Interstate Advisory Health Care Commission to study issues related to the regulation of health care that are of particular concern to the member states and make nonbinding recommendations related to the regulation of health care to the member states for consideration by the legislatures of the member states. The bill provides that the compact becomes effective within a member state upon adoption of the compact by at least two member states and consent of the United States Congress. | |||
| HB 266 - Peace - Surgery; definition and who may perform. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/30/12 |
| notes: Defines "surgery" and provides that no person other than a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry, a licensed nurse practitioner, or a person who is acting pursuant to the orders and under the appropriate supervision of a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry shall perform surgery. | |||
| HB 267 - Peace - Dental laboratories; register with Board of Dentistry. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Continued to 2013 in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 01/24/12 |
| notes: Requires any individual or business entity engaged in the manufacture or repair of dental prosthetic appliances to register with the Board of Dentistry. The bill also requires the Board to develop regulations governing the operation of dental laboratories. | |||
| HB 268 - Peace - Occupational therapy; definition. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/23/12 |
| notes: Provides that the definition of "practice of occupational therapy" is amended to make clear that "practice of occupational therapy" includes the therapeutic use of occupations for habilitation and rehabilitation to enhance physical health, mental health, and cognitive functioning and that it includes the design of adaptive equipment and assistive technologies and consultation concerning the adaptation of sensory and social, as well as physical, environments. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment. | |||
| HB 269 - Peace - Certificate of public need; process for review & approval of psychiatric & substance abuse services. | (H) Committee on Appropriations | (H) Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources | 01/27/12 |
| notes: Eliminates the requirement that a Request for Applications be issued before the Commissioner of Health may accept and consider applications for a certificate of public need for establishment of psychiatric or substance abuse treatment beds or services. The bill contains technical amendments. | |||
| HB 271 - Peace - Substance Abuse Recovery Support Services Grant Program; established, report. | (H) Committee on Appropriations | (H) Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources | 01/19/12 |
| notes:
Establishes the Substance Abuse Recovery Support Services Grant Program to provide grants to recovery support services providers in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to annually issue a request for proposals for grants to providers of recovery support services in the Commonwealth and to convene a work group of stakeholders, including providers of recovery support services, to develop the request for proposals and to evaluate applications and determine awards of grants and the amount of such awards. The bill also requires the Auditor of Public Accounts to administer an operational and programmatic performance audit focusing on the agencies providing public substance abuse prevention and treatment services in the Commonwealth for the purpose of providing a cost savings assessment of public substance abuse services in the Commonwealth and providing information to the Governor and the General Assembly related to opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness and implement cost savings measures in the delivery of public substance abuse prevention and treatment services in the Commonwealth, with a focus on potential improvements resulting from inclusion of private and nonprofit providers of recovery support and peer support services. Any monetary savings realized from the implementation of recommendations of the performance audit shall be applied to the Substance Abuse Recovery Support Services Grant Program. |
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| HB 343 - O'Bannon - Virginia All-Payer Claims Database; created. | (H) Committee on Appropriations | (H) Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Establishes the Virginia All-Payer Claims Database system, in order to facilitate data-driven, evidence-based improvements in access, quality, and cost of health care through understanding of health care expenditure patterns and operation and performance of the health care system. Data shall be made publicly available in a form that protects the identity of individual patients. The bill also creates the Advisory Board on Health Care Data Reporting to assist the Board of Health in developing regulations implementing the All-Payer Claims Database. Upon promulgation of final regulations implementing the Database, the existing statute dealing with the current survey of health carriers subject to HEDIS reporting is repealed. | |||
| HB 344 - O'Bannon - Dental and dental hygiene school faculty; licensure. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/23/12 |
| notes: Clarifies what patient care activities are allowed for a person enrolled in a Virginia dental education program who has a temporary license to practice dentistry while in the program, clarifies requirements for the Board to issue a faculty license to a qualified person from out of state to teach dentistry or dental hygiene in a Virginia dental school or program, and specifies that a restricted license for a foreign dentist to teach dentistry in Virginia is a temporary appointment and extends this restricted license expiration from one year to two years. | |||
| HB 345 - O'Bannon - Dietitians; requires Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations for licensure. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Continued to 2013 in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations for the licensure of dietitians in the Commonwealth; provides that it shall be unlawful for any person to practice as or hold himself out to be a dietitian or to use in conjunction with his name the letters or words "dietitian," "L.D.," or "Licensed Dietitian" without a license issued by the Board of Medicine beginning July 1, 2013; and establishes the Advisory Board for Dietitians to advise the Board of Medicine regarding the regulation of dietitians in the Commonwealth. | |||
| HB 346 - O'Bannon - Nurse practitioners; practice as part of patient care teams. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/23/12 |
| notes: Amends provisions governing the practice of nurse practitioners. The bill provides that nurse practitioners shall only practice as part of a patient care team, which shall include at least one patient care team physician licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth who provides management of and leadership in the care of a patient or patients. The bill also establishes requirements for written or electronic practice agreements for nurse practitioners, provides that physicians practicing as part of a patient care team may require nurse practitioners practicing as part of that patient care team to be covered by professional malpractice insurance, and amends requirements related to the prescriptive authority of nurse practitioners practicing as part of a patient care team. | |||
| HB 357 - McClellan - Virginia Health Benefits Exchange Authority; created. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 01/31/12 |
| notes: Creates the Virginia Health Benefits Exchange Authority as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The Authority is charged with establishing and operating health benefit exchanges for qualified individuals and small businesses, collectively referred to as the Exchange. The measure also provides for the Authority to perform, or provide for the performance by other state agencies of, duties associated with the operation of the Exchange as required by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and implements the intent set forth in Chapter 823 of the 2011 Acts of Assembly that Virginia create and operate its own health benefits exchange to preserve and enhance competition in the health insurance market. The Authority is authorized to enter agreements with the State Corporation Commission and Departments of Medical Assistance Services, Health, and Social Services regarding the performance of duties related to the conduct of the Exchange. The Exchange will be funded by assessments on health insurers offering plans in the Exchange. Persons who file information that is known to be false or misleading, or willfully and knowingly violate any provision of the act, are subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000. The measure provides that the same market rules will apply to health plans sold inside and outside the Exchange, and that mandated health benefits applicable to plans offered outside the Exchange will also apply to plans offered through the Exchange. Insurance companies are required to offer the same health plans, for the same price, inside and outside the Exchange. Insurers are prohibited from offering bronze level plans outside the Exchange unless they also offer such plans through the Exchange. The State Corporation | |||
| HB 398 - Hope - Radiology benefits managers; decision to deny physician's order for diagnostic radiology test. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Continued to 2013 in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 01/31/12 |
| notes: Requires that any decision by a radiology benefits manager to deny a treating physician's order or recommendation for a diagnostic radiology test be made by a physician. An authorization to perform a diagnostic radiology test given by a health carrier or by a radiology benefits manager shall be conclusive to satisfy any requirement of medical necessity in a health benefit plan or a health carrier's plan, policy, or schedule of benefits. A managed care health insurance utilization review entity's utilization review plan is required to include a provision designed to ensure that adverse determinations by a radiology benefits manager are made by a licensed physician. Any person who countermands the treatment order or recommendation of a treating physician for a diagnostic radiology test by any means or manner that is intended to influence the patient to refuse a recommended diagnostic radiology test or to elect to receive a different service than the diagnostic radiology test ordered or recommended by the treating physician shall be deemed to be practicing medicine. | |||
| HB 506 - Garrett - Surgery; definition and who may perform. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 01/19/12 |
| notes: Defines "surgery" and provides that no person other than a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry, a licensed nurse practitioner, or a person who is acting pursuant to the orders and under the appropriate supervision of a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or dentistry shall perform surgery. | |||
| HB 529 - McQuinn - Virginia Public Procurement Act; preference for local products and firms. | (H) Committee on General Laws | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Authorizes localities to apply a preference for bidders or offerors located in the locality of up to 10 percent, provided (i) for competitive sealed bidding the percentage of the discount is stated in the Invitation to Bid, (ii) for competitive negotiations the percentage of the increase is stated in the Request for Proposal, and (iii) the discount percentage or increase percentage is included in the informal solicitation for small purchase. | |||
| HB 543 - Robinson - Massage therapists; licensure required by Board of Nursing. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Read first time | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Requires that massage therapists be licensed, rather than certified, by the Board of Nursing. The bill also allows the Board of Nursing to issue a provisional license valid until July 1, 2014, to any individual who meets the current requirements for certification as a massage therapist. | |||
| HB 709 - Kilgore - Motor vehicle insurance; medical expense benefits, assignments. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (H) Continued to 2013 in Commerce and Labor | 01/24/12 |
| notes: Invalidates assignments of medical expenses benefits provided under a motor vehicle liability insurance policy. Medical expense benefits due to a covered injured person may be paid directly to a state or federal assistance program that provided benefits to such injured person that arose out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle. The measure also provides that medical expense benefits may not be reduced because of any benefits paid, payable, or provided by a health insurance policy. | |||
| HB 733 - Jones - Pharmacists; compounding authority. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) VOTE: PASSAGE (99-Y 0-N) | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Increases pharmacists' authority to compound to allow the compounding of (i) a commercially manufactured drug whose manufacturer has notified the FDA that the drug is unavailable due to a current drug shortage, or (ii) a commercially manufactured drug when the prescriber has indicated in the prescription for an individual patient that there is an emergent need for a drug that is not readily available. | |||
| HB 814 - Orrock - Virginia Public Health Foundation; established, report. | (H) Committee on Appropriations | (H) Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources | 01/27/12 |
| notes: Creates the Virginia Public Health Foundation in order to (i) support the development and implementation of innovative activities and creative solutions for the prevention of disease and the promotion of public health, with a particular focus on emergency preparedness and response, as well as environmental health issues including provision of safe drinking water and sanitary on-site sewage disposal; (ii) secure and distribute resources in support of core public health functions and essential services; and (iii) support the mission and goals of the Department of Health. | |||
| HB 829 - Farrell - Virginia Immunization Information System; linkages to other VDH databases. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Referred to Committee on Education and Health | 01/25/12 |
| notes: Allows the Commissioner of Health to provide health care providers authorized to access the Virginia Immunization Information System to also access other information maintained by the Department of Health, including newborn screening records, newborn hearing screening records, and blood-lead level records. | |||
| HJ 87 - McQuinn - Prostate cancer prevention; Health Commissioner to promote screening as an effective tool, report. | (H) Committee on Rules | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 02/02/12 |
| notes:
Requests the State Health Commissioner to promote and emphasize prostate cancer screening as an effective tool in prostate cancer prevention. The State Health Commissioner shall submit a report of his progress in meeting this request to the 2013 Regular Session of the General Assembly. |
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| HJ 88 - McQuinn - Food deserts; SHHR to explore strategies to eliminate to make healthy food affordable, report. | (H) Committee on Rules | (H) Subcommittee recommends laying on the table | 01/26/12 |
| notes: Requests the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to explore and recommend strategies to eliminate food deserts to make healthy and affordable food products available and accessible to low-income and poor citizens and impoverished communities throughout the Commonwealth. The Secretary must report his progress in meeting the objectives of the resolution to the Governor and the 2013 Session of the General Assembly. | |||
| SB 13 - Black - Lyme disease; adds both confirmed & suspected cases to list to be reported to Department of Health. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Stricken at request of patron in Education and Health (12-Y 0-N) | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Adds both confirmed and suspected cases of Lyme disease to the list of diseases required to be reported to the Department of Health. | |||
| SB 81 - McWaters - Accident and sickness insurance; coverage for hospitalization and anesthesia for dental procedures. | (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (S) Passed by indefinitely in Commerce and Labor with letter (16-Y 0-N) | 01/16/12 |
| notes: Expands the scope of the existing requirement that health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and corporations providing accident and sickness subscription contracts provide coverage for general anesthesia and hospitalization or facility charges of a licensed outpatient surgery facility for dental care to include covered persons who are under the age of 13. The requirement currently applies to such persons who are under age five. The requirement for coverage continues to apply when a covered person is determined by a licensed dentist, in consultation with the covered person's treating physician, to require general anesthesia and admission to a hospital or outpatient surgery facility to effectively and safely provide dental care. The existing requirement for coverage also applies to covered persons who are severely disabled or have a medical condition and require admission to a hospital or outpatient surgery facility and general anesthesia for dental care treatment. | |||
| SB 106 - Edwards - Physician assistants; use of fluoroscopy. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Allows a licensed physician assistant who (i) is working under the supervision of a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathy specializing in the field of radiology and (ii) has been trained in the proper use of equipment for the purpose of performing radiologic technology procedures to use fluoroscopy for guidance of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate emergency regulations to implement the provisions of this bill. | |||
| SB 135 - Puller - Virginia All Payer Claims Database; creation. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Assigned Education sub: Health Care | 01/23/12 |
| notes: Establishes the Virginia All-Payer Claims Database system, in order to facilitate data-driven, evidence-based improvements in access, quality, and cost of health care through understanding of health care expenditure patterns and operation and performance of the health care system. Data shall be made publicly available in a form that protects the identity of individual patients. The bill also creates the Advisory Board on Health Care Data Reporting to assist the Board of Health in developing regulations implementing the All-Payer Claims Database. Upon promulgation of final regulations implementing the Database, the existing statute dealing with the current survey of health carriers subject to HEDIS reporting is repealed. | |||
| SB 140 - Puckett - Fire policy; shall provide coverage for cost charged by a volunteer fire department. | (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (S) Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 0-N) | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Provides that volunteer fire departments may charge for fire services and bill for those services directly to liability insurance companies. | |||
| SB 146 - Puckett - Dental hygienists; scope of practice. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Expands an earlier trial program to allow licensed dental hygienists employed by the Department of Health to provide educational and preventative dental care pursuant to a standing protocol. Also, the bill requires an annual report of services provided by such dental hygienists, including their impact upon the oral health of the citizens of the Commonwealth, to be prepared by the Department of Health and submitted to the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources. | |||
| SB 214 - Barker - Breach of medical information; notification. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Continued to 2013 in Education and Health (12-Y 0-N) | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Extends the requirement to notify individuals of a breach of their medical information to all individuals and public and private entities, rather than just governmental agencies. The bill also allows the Attorney General to impose a civil penalty not to exceed $150,000 per breach of the security system. | |||
| SB 313 - Blevins - Surgical assistants and surgical technologists; licensure and certification by Board of Medicine. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Assigned Education sub: Health Licensing | 01/18/12 |
| notes: Requires surgical assistants to be licensed and surgical technologists to be certified by the Board of Medicine. The bill also grandfathers in surgical assistants and surgical technologists practicing at any time during the six months prior to July 1, 2012, and allows a 12-month grace period in order to meet licensure and certification requirements for those completing a training program between July 1, 2012, and July 1, 2013. | |||
| SB 340 - Newman - Occupational therapy; definition. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) | 02/03/12 |
| notes: Provides that the definition of "practice of occupational therapy" is amended to make clear that it includes the therapeutic use of occupations for habilitation and rehabilitation to enhance physical health, mental health, and cognitive functioning and that it includes the design of adaptive equipment and assistive technologies and consultation concerning the adaptation of sensory and social, as well as physical, environments. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment. | |||
| SB 342 - Newman - Dental laboratories; register with Board of Dentistry. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Continued to 2013 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Requires any individual or business entity engaged in the manufacture or repair of dental prosthetic appliances to register with the Board of Dentistry. The bill also requires the Board to develop regulations governing the operation of dental laboratories. | |||
| SB 634 - Vogel - Impaired health care providers; amends definition of impairment. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Continued to 2013 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) | 02/02/12 |
| notes: Provides that the term "impairment" includes psychological and behavioral disabilities, including the mismanagement of countertransference, for the purposes of determining eligibility for the Health Practitioners' Monitoring Program. | |||
| SB 643 - Saslaw - Health information; Department of Health to establish work group to examine needs related to reform. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Assigned Education sub: Health Care | 01/23/12 |
| notes: Requires the Department of Health to establish a work group to examine the health information needs related to health care reform and to ensure that any new data collection is integrated with existing practices in an efficient manner. | |||
| SB 650 - McEachin - Hospitals and physicians; processing health insurance claims. | (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (S) Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor | 01/20/12 |
| notes: Requires any hospital or licensed physician who treats a patient who presents proof of health insurance providing coverage within the applicable provider network to process such patient's claims and provides that a patient is not be liable for any amount in excess of what would be owed if the claim was properly filed in such instances. | |||
