This Act makes changes to provisions related to behavioral health and the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to reflect current practices.
This bill creates the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act. The Act delineates a consumer’s personal data rights and provides that residents of this State will have the right to know what information is being collected about them, see the information, correct any inaccuracies, or request deletion of their personal data that is being maintained by entities or people. This Act is modeled after existing frameworks for data privacy in other jurisdictions. This Act will apply to entities that conduct business in the State of Delaware who controlled or processed the personal data of not less than 35,000 consumers or controlled or processed the personal data of not less than 10,000 consumers and derived more than 20 percent of their gross revenue from the sale of personal data. This Act requires Delaware Department of Justice to engage in public outreach to educate consumers and the business community about the Act beginning at least 6 months prior to the effective date of the Act.
This Act updates the definition of a catalytic converter and limits the purchase or sale of a catalytic converter to a licensed automotive recycler or licensed scrap metal processor, and their respective employees and agents. The Act prohibits minors from selling catalytic converters. The Act specifies the amount of time the catalytic converter must be held before sale as well as what contact information must be obtained from the purchaser and seller as well as identification information on the catalytic converter and requires the information be maintained for 1 year. The Act places a 48 hour hold on payments and limits payment form to checks and limits the time of day and location for the sale of a catalytic converter. The Act requires the licensed sellers to make the purchasers’ and sellers’ contact information available to the police. This Act makes a catalytic converter, in violation of this chapter, considered contraband and, possession thereof, subject to seizure and forfeiture. This Act is for the purpose of regulating the purchase and sale of catalytic converters and for the purpose of assisting law enforcement in response to the high level of catalytic converter theft that has occurred in Delaware. This Act also makes technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act expands the rights of long-term care facility residents by ensuring that long-term care facility residents are entitled to care that recognizes cultural differences and preferences and that long-term care facility residents are made aware of their rights in a language and format that is accessible to the resident. This Act also requires the Department of Health and Social Services to prepare a standardized notice listing all rights detailed in § 1121 of Title 16 in a language and format that is accessible to each resident or their authorized representative. This bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act is the second substitute for Senate Bill No. 8. Like Senate Bill No. 8 and its first substitute, this Act protects patients from unfair debt collection practices for medical debt, including prohibiting large health care facilities from charging interest and late fees, requiring facilities to offer reasonable payment plans, limiting the sale of debt to debt collectors unless an agreement is made to keep protections in place, providing minimum time before certain collections actions may be taken, limiting liability for the medical debt of others, and preventing the reporting of medical debt to consumer credit reporting agencies for at least one year after the debt was incurred. Violations of the provisions of this Act are considered Prohibited Trade Practices and Consumer Fraud violations. Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill No. 8 differed from Senate Bill No. 8 as it required large health-care facilities to provide information to uninsured patients regarding eligibility and the application process for medical assistance. This information must be provided at the time of service or prior to discharge and again with each billing statement. It also created a minimum threshold for eligibility for payment plans, and it reduced the timeframe in which a bill under a payment plan may be first due. The first substitute also defined “medical assistance” and “time of service,” which were not defined in Senate Bill No. 8. This Substitute differs from Senate Substitute 1 in that it changes which medical providers are subject to this Act; it increases the threshold of outstanding debt that requires a payment plan to be offered to patients; it extends the amount of time allowed to provide the medical assistance notice; it refines the definition of medical assistance; it removes examples of companies that are currently credit reporting agencies; it removes a requirement that medical assistance information be printed in any patient’s primary language; it adds a requirement that providers make oral interpretation services available to patients for anything provided under this chapter; it clarifies that the Division of Child Support Services nor anyone filing a child support action is a medical debt collector; it clarifies that anything charged to a credit card is not medical debt; it removes the minimum time before the first payment under a payment plan is due. It also adds Section 2 making this Act effective 6 months after enactment.
This Senate Joint Resolution directs the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families to explore participating in the federal title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program to increase support to relative guardians and facilitate permanency solutions for Delaware youth in foster care.
Section 1 of this Act amends § 6504 of Title 10 to correct two erroneous cross-references (the cross-references will now correctly reference Title 12 rather than Title 10 of the Delaware Code). Section 2 of this Act corrects § 3301(d) of Title 12 by updating the definition of the term “fiduciary” to be consistent with 2019 updates to § 3322 of Title 12, the effect of which was that when an agent is delegated duties by a fiduciary, such delegation neither causes the agent to cease to be a fiduciary nor causes the agent to be a fiduciary. Section 3 of this Act amends § 3332(b) of Title 12 to add a cross-reference to, and incorporation of criteria from, § 3340 of Title 12, thereby emphasizing that satisfaction of the criteria of § 3340 of Title 12 means that a trust is administered in Delaware, but also emphasizing that § 3340 of Title 12 is a non-exclusive list of the criteria that may mean that a trust is administered in Delaware. Section 4 of this Act amends § 3338 of Title 12 to: (1) expressly state that a consent to a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this section must be in writing; (2) permit parties to issue a written nonobjection, rather than a written affirmative consent, to a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this section (much as parties can do under § 3342 of Title 12, which is a similar statute; and as also contemplated under Court of Chancery rules for consent petitions); (3) emphasize that the permitted subjects of a nonjudicial settlement agreement for a trust, including those expressly listed in subsection (e) of this section, remain subject to the material purpose requirement of subsection (c) of this section; (4) make it clearer that the ability of a nonjudicial settlement agreement to resolve the interpretation or construction of the terms of a trust under paragraph (e)(1) of this section applies to any (and not just all) of the terms of a trust; and (5) expressly state (and thus make it clearer) that, in addition to other types of modifications to the terms of a trust that were already expressly listed in subsection (e) of this section, the terms of a trust may be modified by a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this section—though, again, any such modification will continue to be subject to the “material purpose” requirement of subsection (c) of this section, as is already the case, including for those matters currently expressly listed in subsection (e) of this section. Section 5 of this Act amends § 3339 of Title 12 to make it clearer that: (1) a designated representative may be appointed via the methods specified in § 3339(a)(4) and (5) of Title 12, when those appointed under the methods given precedence under previous paragraphs of subsection (a) are not serving—in other words, when those appointed are unwilling or unable to serve (and not merely when such persons have been “appointed” in the sense of being named or nominated under the methods given precedence under previous paragraphs of subsection (a)); and (2) the limitation of § 3339(a)(4)b. of Title 12 that, in the stated circumstance under paragraph (4), does not allow a trustor to appoint a designated representative that is related or subordinate to the trustor, also applies to the trustor such that in such circumstance, the trustor cannot appoint himself or herself as the designated representative. Section 6 of this Act amends § 3340 of Title 12 to make it clearer that: (1) a trust’s satisfaction of any of the criteria listed in § 3340(1) through (3) of Title 12 conclusively means that the trust is administered in Delaware (such that satisfaction of such criteria does not lead merely to a rebuttable presumption); and (2) the criteria listed in § 3340(1) through (3) of Title 12 are not the exclusive means by which a trust is, or is considered to be, administered in Delaware. Section 7 of this Act amends § 3536 of Title 12 to make it clear that a former spouse of a trust beneficiary who has a claim against such beneficiary, such beneficiary’s estate, or such beneficiary’s property is considered a creditor of such beneficiary, thereby affording the beneficiary the protections of § 3536 of Title 12. The amendment is distinguishable from the factual situation addressed by, and is not intended to conflict with, Garretson v. Garretson, 306 A.2d 737, which held that a current spouse of a trust beneficiary who has a claim against such beneficiary is not considered a creditor of such beneficiary. Section 8 of this Act amends § 3570(4) of Title 12 to make it clearer that the term “disposition” under Delaware’s Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act can include a transfer to another trust (and not merely to a trustee or trustees). Section 9 of this Act amends § 3573 of Title 12 to provide that the limitations on qualified dispositions applicable to the spouse of a transferor as imposed by § 3572 of Title 12, do not include transfers to trusts for which the spouse: (1) is given (a) written notice of the transfer, (b) a copy of the Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act, (c) a copy of the trust instrument of the receiving trust, (d) a list of the property subject to the transfer, (e) disclosure of all material information relating to the value of such property; (f) disclosure of the estimated value of the property, and (g) the basis for such estimate; and (2) consents in writing to the transfer after receipt of the foregoing. Section 10 of this Act amends § 3585(c)(3) of Title 12 to update a cross-reference so that the current reference to § 3303(d) of Title 12 will now refer to § 3339 of Title 12, which is the more precise reference in light of recent statutory changes. Section 11 of this Act amends § 61-604(a)(5) of Title 12 to: (1) include limited liability companies and statutory trusts as entities whose ownership by certain types of charitable trusts will be treated in the same way as partnerships owned by such trusts; and (2) make it clearer that any of those types of entities will receive such treatment even if such entities are disregarded for federal income tax purposes. Section 12 of this Act amends § 1513 of Title 13 to make it clearer that a spouse’s beneficial interest in a trust created by another person is not included within the term “marital property,” which is defined by this statute, because such an interest falls within the statute’s exclusion of gifts from the term “marital property.” In addition, consistent with § 3315(b) of Title 12, language has been added to § 1513 of Title 13 to confirm that a discretionary interest in a trust is not a property interest under existing Delaware statutory law and, therefore, is not included in the definition of “property acquired” by a spouse (as such term “property acquired” is used in § 1513 of Title 13). Section 13 of this Act amends § 2704(e)(4) of Title 18 such that the term “trust-owned life insurance policy” now includes a policy owned by an entity that is disregarded for federal income tax purposes and that is wholly owned by a trust (in addition to such a policy that is directly owned by a trust). Section 14 of this Act provides an effective date.
This Act allows Dental Clinicians possessing a DDS or DMDS to participate in the Health Care Provider Loan Repayment grant program. The Act also extends the time in which providers may apply for a Health Care Provider Loan Repayment grant from six months to two years following completion of their graduate education.
Senate Bill No. 80 codifies the current practice in Delaware of not requiring proof of citizenship or a specific immigration status on an application for a professional license. By affirmatively providing eligibility for professional licenses regardless of immigration status, Senate Bill No. 80 brings Delaware into compliance with a federal requirement in place since August 22, 1996, under 8 U.S.C.S. § 1621(d), and provides public notice of this policy. Senate Bill No. 80 also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 80 differs from Senate Bill No. 80 by also codifying the current practice of allowing an applicant for a professional license who does not have a social security number to submit instead, an attestation stating that if the applicant obtains a social security number in the future, the applicant will update their application with that social security number.
This Act establishes the comprehensive framework for the regulation of pet insurance transacted in Delaware. The Act reflects the adoption of the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s Pet Insurance Model Act, with adjustments made to conform the model act to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including using the singular tense of a word rather than the plural tense.
