Legislative Update
Access to Quality Health Care & Insurance
| Bills | Committee | Last action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| HB 396 - Hamilton - Medical Facilities Plan; Board of Health to appoint and convene task force. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Finance | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0501) | 03/17/08 |
| notes: Requires the Board of Health to appoint and convene a task force of no less than 15 persons, including representatives from the Department of Health and the Division of Certificate of Public Need, and representatives of the health care provider community, academic medical community, experts in advanced medical technology, and health insurers, at least once every two years to update the State Medical Facilities Plan. This bill also requires that certain sections of the plan related to diagnostic services, cardiology services, and cancer treatment services be reviewed and updated on an annual basis. | |||
| HB 397 - Hamilton - Health maintenance organizations; removes certain limitations on deductibles. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0214) | 03/06/08 |
| notes: Removes certain limitations on the deductibles that a health maintenance organization may require enrollees to pay. The deleted limitations cap the annual deductibles to the maximum permitted for medical savings account plans under federal rules or, if the federal program for these plans is terminated, the maximum deductible for the last year in which the federal program was in effect plus $50. | |||
| HB 403 - Hamilton - Health care providers; those responding to disaster immune from liability. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0121) | 03/05/08 |
| notes: Provides that, in the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct, health care providers who respond to a disaster are immune from civil liability for any injury or wrongful death arising from the delivery or withholding of health care. This immunity only applies if a state or local emergency has been or is subsequently declared in response to such a disaster. This bill further provides that the failure of a health care provider to deliver the same level or manner of care that would be delivered under nondisaster circumstances does not constitute a breach of duty by such provider where the failure results from a lack of necessary resources. The bill also allows persons who hold licenses or certificates evidencing their professional or mechanical skills who render aid involving that skill during a disaster to receive reimbursement for their actual and necessary expenses. The bill also combines the definitions of the terms "man-made disaster" and "natural disaster" as contained in the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Law of 2000 into the term "disaster" and adds the term "communicable disease of public health threat" to the definition. The bill also expands when immunity attaches for health care providers who abandon patients in order to respond to a disaster to include disasters, emergencies, and major disasters. This bill also makes technical amendments. | |||
| HB 501 - Hamilton - Medical malpractice; definition of professional services. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0169) | 03/05/08 |
| notes: Defines the term "professional services" in the context of medical malpractice actions as services provided to a patient by a health care provider pursuant to federal or state statutes or regulations. The bill also provides that the definition of "health care" includes professional services provided during a patient's residency at a nursing home. This bill is in response to the Supreme Court decision in Alcoy v. Valley Nursing Homes, Inc., 272 Va. 37, 630 S.E.2d 301 (2006). | |||
| HB 504 - Hamilton - Health insurance; insurers to offer individual or group exclusive policies or contracts. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0215) | 03/06/08 |
| notes: Authorizes insurers to offer individual or group exclusive provider policies or contracts, which are insurance policies or contracts that condition the payment of benefits on the use of preferred providers. The insurer is required to provide an option in group contracts whereby each enrollee may, at no additional cost to the group contract holder, may select a benefit for preferred and nonpreferred providers. Exclusive provider policies or contracts (i) may not restrict payment for covered services provided by nonpreferred providers as required under regulations applicable to managed care health insurance plan licensees and (ii) shall provide out-of-network emergency services at the minimum level required by the preferred provider policy or contract. | |||
| HB 603 - O'Bannon - Health insurance carriers; hospital disclosure of contractual arrangements. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0071) | 03/04/08 |
| notes: Requires health insurance carriers, including health maintenance organizations and third-party administrators, annually to disclose to the State Health Commissioner the terms of its contracts with hospitals that establish the amount that the carrier is required to pay to the provider for health care services. The State Health Commissioner is required to compile the information and make it available to the public through an Internet website. Portions or aggregations of the information may be made available to the public if the Board of Health determines it may disclosed without compromising the identities of the carrier and hospital. The Commissioner shall negotiate and contract with a nonprofit organization, such as the Virginia Health Information, to compile, store, and make such information available to the public. | |||
| HB 1100 - Sickles - Human immunodeficiency virus; informed consent for testing. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0641) | 03/18/08 |
| notes: Removes the requirement for separate oral or written informed consent for testing for human immunodeficiency virus and adds the requirement that a medical care provider inform a patient that the test is planned, provide information about the test, and advise the patient that he has the right to decline the test. | |||
| HB 1265 - Plum - Health, Department of; payment for medical care services. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0081) | 03/04/08 |
| notes: Allows the Department of Health to charge an amount equal to the allowable charge of a private insurer for the services provided by the Department to an insured individual. If an insurance company denies a claim for medical care services provided by the Department, the patient portion of the bill shall not be greater than if the person did not have private health insurance. | |||
| HB 1294 - Athey - Good Samaritan statute; immunity extends to those providing care at location for screening, etc. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0229) | 03/06/08 |
| notes: Provides that immunity under the statute extends to those providing care at a location for screening or stabilization in addition to the scene of the accident and en route to the hospital. Also the bill clarifies that reimbursement for expenses is not considered compensation under the statute. | |||
| HB 1299 - Frederick - Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act; resolve situations when conflict between health care directive. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0082) | 03/04/08 |
| notes: Specifies a procedure for resolving situations when, with regard to the measures necessary to ensure the medical suitability of an organ, there is a conflict between an advanced health care directive or similar declaration and the express or implied terms of an anatomical gift. The bill also repeals a section that was inadvertently not repealed when the prior act was repealed in 2007 and makes some clarifying changes. The 2007 General Assembly repealed the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and enacted the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. | |||
| HB 1512 - Byron - Health care sharing ministries; insurance laws do not apply. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Commerce and Labor | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0232) | 03/06/08 |
| notes: Declares that insurance laws do not apply to a health care sharing ministry. A health care sharing ministry that, through its publication to members, solicits funds for the payment of medical expenses of other members, will not be considered to be engaging in the business of insurance and will not be subject to the jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission. A health care sharing ministry is a health care cost sharing arrangement among individuals of the same religion, administered by a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that, among other things, acts as an organizational clearinghouse for information about members who have financial or medical needs and matches them with members with the ability to assist those with such needs, and provides for the financial or medical needs of members through payments directly from one member to another. | |||
| HB 1528 - Phillips - Southwest Virginia Health Facilities Authority; change in membership of board of directors. | (H) Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns (S) Committee on Local Government | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0803) | 04/14/08 |
| notes: Makes a change to membership of the board of directors of such authority. | |||
| HB 1543 - Janis - Surgical complications; requires physicians to report. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (10-Y 1-N) | 02/28/08 |
| notes: Requires physicians to report complications resulting from elective outpatient surgical procedures. The report shall not contain any identifying information. Willful failure to report shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor. | |||
| HJ 79 - Hamilton - Physicians, etc.; barring from prescribing an alternative brand of medicine for financial incentive. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Rules | (H) Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ79ER) | 03/12/08 |
| notes: Requests the Governor and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to develop a policy barring physicians or other health care practitioners from prescribing an alternative brand of medication because of financial incentives without first disclosing the incentives to the patient or the patient's parent, legal guardian, or other authorized representative. | |||
| SB 51 - Whipple - Health insurance; extension of coverage funded by localities. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Labor (S) Committee on Local Government | (H) Failed to report (defeated) in Commerce and Labor (8-Y 14-N) | 02/26/08 |
| notes: Provides that the governing body of any locality that self-funds a health insurance program for its officers and employees may extend coverage under such program to any other class of persons as may be mutually agreed upon by the locality and the policyholder. | |||
| SB 72 - Howell - Breast tumor treatment; repeals requirement that patient sign consent form. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0035) | 02/27/08 |
| notes: Repeals the requirement that a patient sign a consent form before the treatment of a breast tumor. | |||
| SB 288 - Wampler - Health insurance program; local officers & employees of state-funded centers for independent living. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Finance | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0403) | 03/14/08 |
| notes: Makes officers and employees of state-funded centers for independent living eligible to participate in the "local choice" health insurance program established by the Department of Human Resource Management. | |||
| SB 290 - Barker - Advance Health Care Directive Registry; created. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0696) | 04/14/08 |
| notes: Requires the Department of Health to create and maintain a secure online central registry for advance health care directives. The registry shall be accessible to health care providers licensed by the Board, through a site maintained by the Department of Health. | |||
| SB 344 - Blevins - Stroke Triage Plan; Board of Health to develop and maintain as component of EMS Plan. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0567) | 03/17/08 |
| notes: Requires the Board of Health to develop and maintain as a component of the Emergency Medical Services Plan a statewide pre-hospital and interhospital Stroke Triage Plan designed to promote rapid access for stroke patients to appropriate, organized stroke care. The Plan shall include formal regional stroke triage plans, which shall be reviewed triennially. | |||
| SB 381 - Martin - Mental health and substance abuse treatment providers; background checks. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0407) | 03/14/08 |
| notes: Allows community services boards and providers licensed by the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to hire as a direct care employee in adult substance abuse or mental health treatment programs someone with certain misdemeanor assault and battery convictions as long as such offences were substantially related to substance abuse or mental illness and the applicant has been rehabilitated. | |||
| SB 396 - Edwards - Health insurance carriers; hospital disclosure of contractual arrangements. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0102) | 03/04/08 |
| notes: Requires the Department of Health to post on its website a list of the average costs for 25 common outpatient procedures performed at each licensed hospital. Also the measure requires hospitals to provide upon request a written estimate of the total costs reasonably expected to be billed to a patient for non-emergency care. | |||
| SB 495 - Northam - Medicine, Board of; certain information to be made available thereto. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0479) | 03/14/08 |
| notes: Exempts anyone holding an inactive, temporary, limited, or volunteer license to practice medicine from the requirement to make certain information available to the Board of Medicine. | |||
| SB 578 - Saslaw - VirginiaShare Health Insurance Program; established, report. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance | (H) Left in Appropriations | 03/03/08 |
| notes: Establishes the VirginiaShare Health Insurance Program, to provide health insurance premium assistance to allow eligible low-income working individuals to purchase health insurance coverage through a certified VaShare Health Insurance Policy. Also establishes the VirginiaShare Health Insurance Program Board to regulate the Program, to be administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services. The program will pay one-third of the total monthly premium for eligible individuals, up to $75, with the remaining amount to be paid by the individual's small employer and the individual. Eligible individuals must (i) be residents of Virginia; (ii) have an income that is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; (iii) have not been insured or had the offer of insurance within six months prior to enrollment in the Program; (iv) be ineligible for medical assistance benefits pursuant to Title XIX of the Social Security Act, as amended, or benefits pursuant to Title XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended; (v) be employed by a qualified small employer; and (vi) work at least 30 hours per week for the qualified small employer. | |||
| SJ 128 - Houck - Health care professionals, licensed; Joint Commission on Health Care to study competence. | (H) Committee on Rules (S) Committee on Rules | (H) Left in Rules | 03/03/08 |
| notes: Directs the Joint Commission on Health Care to study the feasibility, advisability, and necessity of considering the competence of licensed health care professionals as a condition of license renewal. | |||
