This Act establishes that a contract between a pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy may not prohibit a pharmacy or pharmacist from doing any of the following: (1) Providing an insured with information regarding the retail price of a prescription drug or the amount of the cost share for which the insured is responsible for a prescription drug. (2) Discussing with an insured information regarding the retail price of a prescription drug or the amount of the cost share for which the insured is responsible for a prescription drug. (3) If a more affordable, therapeutically equivalent prescription drug is available, selling the more affordable, therapeutically equivalent prescription drug to the insured. In some cases, contracts between pharmacy benefits managers and pharmacies have provisions that prohibit pharmacies or pharmacist from informing consumers that they have options related to a prescription drug they want to buy and that the prescription drug could be purchased at a lower cost if the consumer paid out of pocket rather than through their health insurance plan. These provisions are often known as “gag clauses.” At least 7 states have enacted laws prohibiting these “gag clauses.”
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This Act fulfills recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee by doing the following: (1) Establishing 2 new, nonvoting members to serve on the State Board of Education ("Board"). The new members are a former Delaware Teacher of the Year and a Delaware 11th or 12th grade student. (2) Defining the duties of the Board’s Executive Director. (3) Clarifying that the Executive Director is selected by the Board; is an employee of the Department of Education, subject to all of the Department’s employment policies and procedures; but serves at the pleasure of the Board. (4) Requiring the Board to rotate its meetings among the 3 counties of this State in such a way to facilitate parents’, teachers’, and other community members’ attendance. (5) Establishing the circumstances under which a Board member may be removed, using language standard to boards and commissions in this State. (6) Requiring the Board to permit public comment on each agenda item prior to voting on the item and in proximity to the time at which the Board discusses the item. An exception is provided if, under Delaware law or Department or Board rules, the item has a formal comment period or a process for making a record in an administrative matter that has closed before the Board’s discussion of the agenda item. Examples of matters that qualify for the exception include charter school applications or formal reviews, amendments to Department of Education and Professional Standards Board regulations, and student appeals. The intent of the exception is to exclude Board actions that are quasi-judicial in nature and therefore not appropriate to open to public comment. This Act also corrects 2 internal references and makes other technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act creates Pay for Success contracts. A Pay for Success contract is an agreement between a State agency and either a program intermediary or an investor under which an investor will provide upfront capital to fund a service, program, or economic development initiative. The State agency agrees to repay the program intermediary or investor if the service, program, or economic development initiative meets the performance measures and outcomes agreed to in the contract. An independent evaluator will determine if the performance measures and outcomes are met. If the State agency contracts with a program intermediary, the program intermediary will manage all aspects of the project, including identifying the investor and the entity or entities that will provide the service, program, or economic development initiative. In other situations, a State agency will contract directly with the investor, who will contract directly with the entity or entities that will provide the service, program, or economic development initiative.
This Act restores the Delaware Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Program (“Program”), which was eliminated in the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Appropriations Act. This Act replaces Senate Bill 148 and makes the following additional changes: (1) Delays implementation of the Act until January 1, 2019, to coordinate with the Medicare Part D benefit year to enable the Department of Health and Social Services (“Department”) to make necessary system changes. (2) Makes changes to the defined term “prescription drugs.” (3) Removes provisions required to be included in rules and regulations promulgated by the Department. (4) Adds provisions that may be included in rules and regulations promulgated by the Department. (5) Makes technical corrections to conform the provisions of the restored Program to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Section 1 through 4 of this Act establish interim standards and criteria in order to permit redevelopment projects to move forward while revised regulations are being drafted. The interim standards set forth in this Act would effectively "sunset" upon the adoption of regulations governing redevelopment. The redevelopment regulations, upon formal adoption, would supersede the provisions of the Bill. Section 4 corrects an oversight in prior legislation, which extended the time frame for Department review of delegated projects from 3 to 5 years, but failed to extend the effective date of delegation from 3 to 5 years. Section 5 codifies current and proposed regulations as they pertain to stormwater management to ensure consistency. Section 6 is intended to clarify the procedural status of supporting materials published by DNREC to facilitate compliance with the Regulations, in light of the Order of the Delaware Supreme Court in Baker v. DNREC, No. 552, 2015 (April 15, 2016), affirming the Memorandum Opinion of the Honorable T. Henley Graves of the Superior Court, dated October 7, 2015. Consistent with the Delaware Administrative Procedures Act, regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy adopted pursuant to this exception must still be published in the Delaware Register of Regulations, in order to provide notice of the changes. The language confirming the exemption is drawn from federal administrative law, 5 U.S.C.A. §553, and equivalent provisions of the New Jersey Code, 52:14B-3a, governing such supporting materials. The regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy may not be used by DNREC to impose new or additional requirements on regulated parties, and may not be used, instead of the Code provisions and the Stormwater Regulations, as a basis for enforcement. Such materials are therefore not regulations, and not are not subject to the notice, hearing, or comment procedures of the Administrative Procedures Act or Title 7, or the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Rather, DNREC is free to publish periodic updates and revisions of its technical manuals, checklists, forms, and policy memos, to assist regulated parties in compliance with the Regulations. Section 7 creates a sunset date for sections 1, 2, and 5 to give the Department additional time to fully enact regulations. It is the intent that sections 1, 2, and 5 will sunset upon having a finalized version of Sediment and Stormwater Regulations.
In 2006, Delaware enacted “Jessica’s Law,” which requires first time offenders convicted of a specified sexual offense against a child under 14 years of age and individuals previously convicted of a Class A or B sexual offense in Title 11 and subsequently convicted of a specified sexual offense sentences be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison, up to life. The specified sexual offenses in “Jessica’s Law” are Rape in the Third Degree (where the defendant engages in sexual penetration with the victim without the victim’s consent or with a victim who is under 16 years of age and causes physical injury or serious mental or emotional injury); Rape in the Second Degree; Rape in the First Degree; Dangerous Crime Against a Child; Sexual Offender Unlawful Sexual Conduct Against a Child; and Sexual Abuse of a Child by a Person in a Position of Trust, Authority, or Supervision in the First Degree (where the defendant engages in sexual penetration or sexual intercourse with a child under 16 years of age). Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Nation Incident-Based Reporting System indicates that 1 of every 7 victims of sexual assaults is under the age of 6. This Act updates “Jessica’s Law,” enhancing penalties for especially vulnerable victims, as follows: (1) Requiring that an individual convicted of one of the specified offenses in “Jessica’s Law” be sentenced to an additional 5 years in prison if the victim is a child under the age of 7. (2) Requiring that an individual convicted of Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First Degree (involving a child under the age of 13) or Kidnapping in the Second Degree (for the purpose of violating or abusing the victim sexually) be sentenced to at least 5 years in jail if the victim is a child under the age of 7. (3) Requiring that an individual convicted of Kidnapping in the First Degree (for the purpose of violating or abusing the victim sexually) be sentenced to at least 10 years in jail if the victim is a child under the age of 7. Additionally, this Act requires the Superior Court to impose these sentences upon the application of the State.
This legislation requires that all full-time employees of the State, including employees of school districts, continuously in the employ of the state for at least one year, shall be eligible for 12 weeks of paid leave upon the birth or adoption of a child 6 years of age or younger. Both parents would be eligible for such leave. Employees shall continue to have the right, as they do under current law, to use accrued sick leave for maternity and paternity purposes. This legislation leaves intact the rights of persons adopting a child over 6 years of age to take unpaid leave. Due to lack of adequate paid family leave policies, many parents must return to work sooner than is optimal for the health of mothers (in the case of biological birth) and children. Granting paid leave will contribute to the establishment of parent-child bonds, breastfeeding establishment, and allow infants to receive vaccines and develop stronger immune systems prior to entering daycare. Further, a more generous leave policy will increase the productivity of workers and reduce employee turnover. This Act takes effect January 1, 2019. The Office of Management and Budget is directed to establish guidelines for the implementation of this Act.
This Act requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility care services, including in vitro fertilization ("IVF") procedures, for individuals who suffer from a disease or condition that results in the inability to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to a live birth. This Act also requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility preservation for individuals diagnosed with cancer and other diseases, when medically necessary treatment could adversely affect their fertility. Like all other diseases, infertility should be covered by insurance. According to the National Infertility Association, RESOLVE, infertility affects 1 in 8 couples and 3 in 4 never obtain needed treatment, often because they cannot afford it. Everyone deserves the right to procreate and to try to build a family. Right now, many Delaware families diagnosed with infertility fall into a “coverage gap” and pay out-of-pocket for fertility care services. Only certain employers provide any fertility care coverage in Delaware and what they do provide is often very limited. Families generally must pay high co-pays or adhere to service restrictions and lifetime dollar caps that strictly limit their treatment options, and thus make it unaffordable for many of them to proceed without risking their financial security or without achieving a successful pregnancy. For example, 1 IVF cycle can cost between $15,000 and $25,000 and, on average, it takes 2 to 3 cycles to achieve pregnancy. Additionally, highly inflated managed care pharmacy prices for IVF medications, where families with coverage can pay as much as 100% more for medications compared to prices charged to self-pay families, often contribute to 25-50% or more of total IVF costs, which can quickly drain lifetime caps and severely limit overall IVF care options. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states currently have laws regarding insurance coverage for infertility diagnosis or treatment, including 2 states that border Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. This puts the State at a significant competitive disadvantage, as many reproductive age residents intentionally change employers and leave Delaware to gain more attractive fertility care benefits. It is also well-documented that individuals who self-pay for an IVF procedure, or have limited benefits, often demand that 2 or more embryos be transferred to their uterus. This greatly increases the risk of multiple births and is a dangerous and costly approach for heavily burdened health care resources, and can be completely avoided with greater access to covered fertility care services. Studies show that states with insurance coverage have a lower rate of multiple births because fewer embryos are transferred. This Act requires insurers to cover fertility care services based on the current standard of care for IVF treatments to achieve pregnancy success rates for singleton births at the lowest possible costs. This will greatly reduce the risk of multiple births and greatly reduce hospital and health care costs, thus saving employers money. Several recent studies have found that the cost of perinatal and neonatal care for twins is about $100,000, whereas singleton pregnancies cost about $13,000. Triplet pregnancies can cost $400,000 or more. For every 100 pregnancies from IVF that are singletons but could have been twins, about $8.7 million dollars is saved, on top of reduced pain and suffering for parents and premature babies. This Act would significantly reduce this high financial and societal burden by promoting IVF technologies that use single-embryo transfers. This Act could increase the number of persons treated for infertility, but also increase the number of babies born in Delaware by 2-300 per year, thus increasing the state’s birth rate by 1-2% and providing a boost to the local economy, while also decreasing health care costs.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution supports the Ad Hoc Committee for Child Support Formula Review's proposed revision to Family Court Rule of Civil Procedure 506.
This Act strengthens the shelter requirements for dogs that are kept outside by requiring the following: 1. Adds failure to provide enhanced shelter to the crime of cruelty to animals. 2. Adds a third or subsequent violation of the shelter requirements, to the crime of cruelty to animals. 3. That dogs be provided with enhanced shelter if the dog is outdoors for more than 30 minutes between the hours of 11:00 pm and 6:00 am or when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. That cages, crates, and carriers intended for travel or short-term, temporary confinement may not be used as outdoor housing facilities. 5. That outdoor housing facilities and enhanced shelters must provide clean and moisture-resistant bedding material and protection from wind. 6. That an enhanced shelter must include the following: minimum space requirements; heat when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit; fresh, circulating air when the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit; and food and water that do not freeze. This Act also imposes a higher civil penalty for subsequent violations of § 3044F, the specifications for the humane handling, care, and treatment of dogs. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.