Sen. Laura Sturgeon

The purpose of this act is to open up The Delaware Student Excellence Equals Degree Act (SEED Act) to adult Delaware residents, who are not recent high school graduates. Currently, about 56% of Delawareans age 25-64 lack a post-secondary degree. This expansion of the SEED grant program will encourage adult learners to return to school to enhance their knowledge and skills and increase their job opportunities. Adult individuals with a high school diploma or less education were significantly impacted by Covid-19-related job loss. This legislation can help to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on those adults. Tennessee has instituted a similar program called the Tennessee Reconnect Act.

This Act creates the Korey Thompson Student Emergency Housing Assistance Fund for the benefit of housing insecure undergraduate students at any college or university in Delaware and appropriates $90,000 to the Fund for FY2022. DSHA is charged with administering the Fund and reporting to the Governor and the General Assembly how the funds are spent.

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 120. Like Senate Bill No. 120, this Substitute continues recent efforts to strengthen the primary care system in this State by doing the following: (1) Directing the Health Care Commission to monitor compliance with value-based care delivery models and develop, and monitor compliance with, alternative payment methods that promote value-based care. (2) Requiring rate filings limit aggregate unit price growth for inpatient, outpatient, and other medical services, to certain percentage increases. (3) Requiring an insurance carrier to spend a certain percentage of its total cost on primary care. (4) Requiring the Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery to establish mandatory minimums for payment innovations, including alternative payment models, and evaluate annually whether primary care spending is increasing in compliance with the established mandatory minimums for payment innovations. (5) In Sections 2 and 3 of this Act, revising the appointment process for members of the Primary Care Reform Collaborative who are not members by virtue of position to comply with the requirements of the Delaware Constitution. These revisions are largely similar to those proposed in Senate Substitute No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 59 (151st General Assembly) (“the Substitute”). As such, Section 2 is designed to take effect if the Substitute does not pass both chambers or passes but is not enacted; Section 3 is designed to take effect if the Substitute passes both chambers and is enacted. (6) Making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 120 as it does all of the following: (1) Adds a “whereas clause” stating that the Department of Insurance does not regulate Medicaid or employer-based plans provided under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or their rates. (2) Provides that rate filings for health benefit plans may not include aggregate unit price growth for nonprofessional services that exceed the greater of 2% or Core CPI plus 1% in 2024, 2025, and 2026. (3) Makes a technical correction to properly alphabetize definitions in Section 4 of the Act (relating to § 2503 of Title 18). (4) Removes “mental health and substance abuse disorder” from the definition of an “inpatient hospital”. (5) Adds a definition of “professional services” and makes clear that “nonprofessional services”, which are subject to the aggregate unit price growth limits of § 2503(a)(12)a. of Title 18, do not include professional services. (6) Amends the definition of “other medical services” to make clear the term includes the facility component of vision exams, dental services, and other services when those services are billed separately from the professional component. (7) Changes the date for mandatory minimums for payment innovations to support a robust system of primary care to January 1, 2026. (8) Make clear that the Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery is to annually evaluate whether primary care spending is increasing in compliance with the requirements of, and regulations adopted under, all of Title 18. (9) Requires the Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery to collect data and develop reports to monitor and evaluate the percentage of spending in primary care that is delegated to hospitals and related networks for care coordination through alternative payment models. (10) Removes the sunset date on provisions requiring individual, group, and State employee insurance plans to reimburse primary care physicians, certified nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other front-line practitioners for chronic care management and primary care at no less than the physician Medicare rate. (11) Sunsets Sections 5 and 6 of this Act and § 2503(a)(12)a. of Title 18 as contained in Section 4 of this Act on January 1, 2027.

This bill removes the training minimum wage and youth minimum wage, which takes effect 90 days after enactment.

This Act requires that home health-care services for Medicaid long-term care services and support providers be reimbursed for services by Medicaid-contracted organizations at a rate equal to or more than the rate set by the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance for equivalent services. This rate floor system is currently used for reimbursement rates for home health-care nursing services paid for by Medicaid-contracted organizations. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act transfers responsibility for early intervention services for children ages birth to age 3 from the Department of Health and Social Services to the Department of Education and revises the Code to be consistent with federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states to provide a comprehensive, coordinated, interagency, interdisciplinary early intervention services system for eligible infants and toddlers and their families. This Act requires that early intervention services be provided in compliance with all of the requirements of the IDEA, improves coordination between advisory bodies, and requires early intervention service providers to receive the same training on child abuse and the same background checks as school employees. Specifically, this Act does all of the following: Section 1. Creates a new Chapter 31A in Title 14 for the Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention Program. Section 2. Transfers responsibility for the Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention Program from the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) under Subchapter II, Chapter 2 of Title 16 to the Department of Education (DOE) under the new Chapter 31A of Title 14, and revises the Code as follows: 1. Aligns the Code with the requirements under the federal infants and toddlers program known as Part C of the IDEA. 2. Creates duplicate sections in Title 14 regarding the confidentiality of reports and prohibiting compulsory participation in the program consistent with existing sections in Title 16. 3. Adds standard organizational language for the Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC). 4. Requires the ICC to hold at least 1 joint meeting each calendar year with the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens (GACEC) because the ICC and the GACEC are the 2 Delaware agencies that advise the Department of Education on implementation of the IDEA. Section 3. Makes corresponding changes to Subchapter I, Chapter 2 of Title 16 to reflect the transfer of responsibility for the Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention Program to DOE. Section 4. Adds the chair of the ICC as a member of the Early Childhood Council (ECC) and makes corresponding changes to the membership of the ECC to reflect the transfer of responsibility for the Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention Program. Section 5. Requires the GACEC to hold at least 1 joint meeting each calendar year with the ICC because the ICC and the GACEC are the 2 Delaware agencies that advise the Department of Education on implementation of the IDEA. Section 6. Requires early intervention service providers to receive the same child abuse and child safety awareness, prevention, detection, and reporting training as school employees. Section 7. Makes corresponding changes to § 7904 of Title 29 reflecting the transfer of the authority to charge a fee for a service provided by Child Development Watch from DHSS to DOE. Section 8. Requires early intervention service providers to receive the same background checks as other child-serving entities and makes corresponding revisions to the procedures to obtain and review the information received from these background checks. Section 9. Delays the implementation of this Act until July 1, 2023 to provide time for the transfer of the program, including the promulgation of regulations. Section 10. Provides that this Act is known as the “Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention Act”. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11(a) of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose a fee.

This Act permits an individual to practice dentistry for the Division of Public Health (Division) under a provisional license. Delaware law provides several routes for entering practice on an interim basis until full licensure can be obtained, however, none of these routes specifically permit hiring by the Division with the intent to practice in a state-supported dental clinic. This Act will assist the Division in recruiting dentists to serve those in need. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Section 1 of this Act addresses a condition of confinement issue that could adversely affect inmate rehabilitation efforts by eliminating solitary confinement imposed by the sentencing court. Section 2 of this Act clarifies language in the Code that states inmates will be assigned to programs based on a risk and needs assessment relative to their criminogenic risk factors and that inmates are consequently assigned to programs that correspond with those criminogenic risk factors. Section 3 of this Act makes changes to recidivism reports compiled by the Statistical Analysis Center. Section 3 of this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including removing a deadline that has already occurred.

This Act expands eligibility for the Department of Correction's Education Assistance Fund beyond correctional officers to employees who hold a position at paygrade 15 or below and meet the other existing requirements. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including by creating a new Subchapter III of Chapter 89 of Title 29, because the Department of Correction's Education Assistance Fund is not related to the topic of Subchapter II.

The Act places the Parents Right to Know Act in the Department of Education instead of the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. This Act also clarifies the notice requirements.