Section 716(a) of Title 24 prohibits annual or lifetime numerical limits on chiropractic visits for the treatment of back pain. The treatment of chronic back pain through chiropractic supportive care can prevent patients from requiring opioid pain medications or more expensive treatments. This Act prohibits the denial of insurance coverage under § 716(a) for chiropractic supportive care, which constitutes maintenance therapy. This requirement applies to policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2023. In addition, this Act clarifies, but does not expand, the insurance coverage subject to the requirements under § 716(a), states that the requirements under this subsection cannot be waived by contract, and requires that the regulations implementing § 176 establish utilization review standards. This Act also updates the definitions in Chapter 7 of Title 24 to be consistent with the current scope of chiropractic practice and makes corresponding revisions to the terms used in existing law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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This Act establishes a period of time when a license for a nonpublic school teacher, specialist, or administrator employed by this State and for a public education employee, i.e., a Department of Education employee, adult education employee, and prison education employee, does not expire. The Act defers the expiration of the license for an individual who is or is the spouse of active-duty military, is or is the spouse of a member of the National Guard, is or is the spouse of an individual in the military reserve, and for an individual who is or is the spouse of retired military. The Act provides that a license does not expire for 180 days after the date the individual or the individual’s spouse returns from active deployment if the person or the person’s spouse holds an initial license and for 270 days after return from active deployment if the person or the person’s spouse holds a continuing or advanced license. This does not apply to public school educators who are licensed and certified in accordance with subchapters II and III of Title14. This Act also replaces the Associate Secretary, Administration and Innovation with the Associate Secretary, Educator Support throughout Section 121. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act requires all law-enforcement agencies to remove all Gold Alert notifications of missing persons from all social media and all websites within 72 hours of being notified that the missing person has been located.
This Act authorizes the Delaware Burn Camp Corporation created by Subchapter VII to determine its own Board of Directors. This Act will phase in the new directors as the current directors complete their terms or upon the occurrence of a vacancy.
This Act provides nationally certified occupational therapists with a salary supplement for receiving national certification. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing language to the standards of the Delaware Drafting Manual.
This Act makes the State Council for Persons with Disabilities consistent with current practice by revising its responsibilities to collect data regarding persons with disabilities. This Act also amends the members of the Council and clarifies the definition of “persons with disabilities”. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
The bill requires that third-party cost-sharing assistance utilized by patients is applied toward the enrollee's health insurance deductibles and any out-of-pocket limits. Additionally, the bill defines what constitutes a “cost-sharing requirement” as well as how to calculate the assistance when applying to patient’s deductibles and out-of-pocket limits. This bill applies to both carriers and pharmacy benefits managers with an effective date of January 1, 2024.
This bill clarifies House Bill 307 from 2018 by making it clear that a 6-month or 12-month mandatory commitment to Level 5 incarceration or institutional confinement for a juvenile only applies to adjudications of delinquency for the charge of Robbery First Degree or Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony if the offense was committed after the child’s 16th birthday.
This Act requires the Department of Education to conduct an annual workforce study of early childhood professionals to support the development of a plan and implementation of a system of supports to grow and deepen the early childhood workforce. The first study is due by November 15, 2022, the plan by January 31, 2023, and implementation of the system should be in place by September 1, 2023. The COVID pandemic revealed and heightened an existing difficulty in attracting and maintaining well qualified professionals in child care jobs, which are frequently low-paying compared to K-12 jobs. Since reliable, widely available, high quality child care options are a foundation for the whole workforce, and because the early childhood years are so important to childhood development and school readiness, it is a priority for the State that this crisis be addressed in a systematic, holistic fashion. The Department of Education is tasked with leading this rethinking and prioritization of early childhood careers – through the development of reliable data systems which can help bring living wages, financial and other support for academic and credential attainment, and coordination with CTE programs and institutions of higher education to uplift the profession and support individuals seeking to make a career in early childhood education.
This bill requires criminal background checks for any current or prospective employee, contractor, and volunteer of the Division of Health and Social Services (DHSS) who visits children in their homes and in the community and has regular, direct access to children or adolescents under the age of 18. The background check includes fingerprinting for Delaware and national background checks as well as a check of the Child Protection Registry. An individual who has a disqualifying criminal conviction or is on the Child Protection Registry at Level III or IV may not be an employee, contractor, or volunteer in any capacity that involves visiting children in their homes or the community or having regular, direct access to children. DHSS, if it chooses, may use its Background Check Center, which processes background checks for individuals working in home-care and long-term care facilities. It differs from the original bill in that it permits DHSS to use its Background Check Center to accomplish these additional background checks, specifies Child Protection Registry status that is disqualifying, and makes other minor technical changes.