Virginia Health Benefit Exchange; created, report.

Virginia Health Benefit Exchange. Creates the VirginiaHealth Benefit Exchange, which will be established and operated by a newdivision within the State Corporation Commission (SCC). The Exchange shall facilitatethe purchase and sale of qualified health plans and qualified dental plans toqualified individuals and qualified employers. The Exchange shall makequalified plans available to qualified individuals and qualified employers byJuly 1, 2023, unless the SCC postpones this date. The measure authorizes theSCC to review and approve accident and sickness insurance premium ratesapplicable to health benefit plans in the individual and small group marketsand health benefit plans providing health insurance coverage in the individualmarket through certain non-employer group plans. The Exchange will be funded byassessments on health insurers offering plans in the Exchange. A health planwill not be required to cover any state-mandated health benefit if federal lawdoes not require it to be covered as part of the essential benefits package.The essential health benefits are items and services included in the benchmarkhealth insurance plan, which is the largest plan in the largest product in theCommonwealth's small group market as supplemented in order to provide coveragefor the items and services within the statutory essential health benefitscategories. The SCC may contract with other eligible entities and enter intomemoranda of understanding with other agencies of the Commonwealth to carry outany of the functions of the Exchange, including agreements with other states orfederal agencies to perform joint administrative functions. Such contracts arenot subject to the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.). Themeasure repeals a provision enacted in 2013 that prohibits an agent, employee,officer, or agency of the Commonwealth from taking any action to establish ahealth benefit exchange.The measure requires the Department of Taxation to include onthe appropriate individual tax return forms a checkoff box or similar mechanismfor indicating whether the individual, or spouse in the case of a marriedtaxpayer filing jointly, (i) is an uninsured individual at the time the returnis filed and (ii) consents to the Department of Taxation providing theindividual's tax information to the Department of Medical Assistance Servicesfor purposes of determining the uninsured individual's or spouse's eligibilityfor medical assistance. Finally, the measure requires the Secretary of Healthand Human Resources to convene a work group that includes representatives fromthe SCC, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Department ofSocial Services, and the Department of Taxation to develop systems, policies,and practices to leverage state income tax returns to facilitate the enrollmentof eligible individuals in insurance affordability programs through theVirginia Health Benefit Exchange established in this measure. The Secretaryshall report the work group's recommendations to the Governor and the GeneralAssembly by September 15, 2020.