Public utilities; use of small, women-owned, or minority-owned business. Provides that in any proceeding in which the State Corporation Commission is required to determine whether costs incurred by a public utility in its delivery or provision of any goods or service are reasonable or prudent, the incremental portion of the costs incurred as a result of its contracting with a small, women-owned, or minority-owned business to deliver or provide the goods or service will not be found to be unreasonable or imprudently incurred if the costs of contracting with the small, women-owned, or minority-owned business do not exceed, by more than three percent, the costs that would have been incurred had it used the lowest-cost qualified business. The measure applies to businesses that are certified as small, women-owned, or minority-owned by the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity.
Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority; industrial hemp marketing plan; report. Directs the Board ofDirectors and Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Economic DevelopmentPartnership Authority to develop a marketing plan for industrialhemp. The bill requires the Authority to report to the Chairmen ofthe House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resourcesand the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and NaturalResources by November 30, 2020, on its marketing plan and its progresstoward meeting the goals and objectives stated in the marketing plan.
Comprehensive plan. Extends the time by which a governing body is required to approve or disapprove a locality-initiated comprehensive plan amendment for more than 25 parcels from 90 to 150 days. This bill is identical to HB 726.
Health care services; explanation of benefits. Requireshealth carriers and Medicaid managed care organizations to provide anexplanation of benefits to covered persons or recipients. The measure requiresthe State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations that establishalternative methods of delivery of the explanation of benefits that permit thereceipt of an explanation of benefits by an alternative method, provided thatsuch alternative method is in compliance with the provisions of federalregulations regarding the right to request privacy protection for protectedhealth information. The measure requires health carriers and Medicaid managedcare organizations to take all reasonable actions to ensure that their internalprocesses and systems prohibit the identification or description of sensitivehealth care services in their explanations of benefits. The measure requires ahealth carrier that requires a covered person to make a request forconfidential communications in writing in accordance with federal law to acceptthe form of the explanation of benefits approved by the Commission. The measurealso requires the Commission to define "sensitive health careservices." The measure will take effect 90 days after the Commission hasadopted the required regulations. The measure is a recommendation of the JointCommission on Health Care.
Telehealth services. Defines "telehealthservices" as the delivery of health care services, including telemedicineservices and other medical, emergency medical, and behavioral health servicesthat are not equivalent to health care services provided through face-to-faceconsultation or contact between a health care provider and a patient, throughthe use of telecommunications and information technology that supports thedelivery of remote or long-distance health care services. The bill requires theBoard of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medicalassistance services a provision for coverage of telehealth services. The billalso requires (i) requires the Board of Health to develop and maintain anEmergency Telehealth Plan as a component of the Statewide Emergency MedicalServices Plan, (ii) every insurer proposing to issue individual or groupaccident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical andsurgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; (iii) eachcorporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscriptioncontracts; and (iv) each health maintenance organization providing a healthcare plan for health care services to provide coverage for the cost of suchhealth care services provided through telehealth services. The bill also requires the Secretary of Health and HumanResources to establish a workgroup to develop recommendations for innovative payment models that support the use of telehealth services andtelemedicine services in accordance with the Statewide Emergency TelehealthPlan including payment of the cost of transporting of a patient to adestination providing services appropriate to the patient’s level of acuity andin-place treatment of a patient at the scene of an emergency response or vialtelehealth services or telemedicine services where appropriate, and appropriateliability protections for health care providers providing services throughtelehealth services and telemedicine services. The workgroup shall report itsrecommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees onAppropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committeeson Education and Health and Finance by November 1, 2020.
Doulas; certification; registry. Provides that no person shall use or assume the title "state-certified doula," as defined in the bill, unless such person is a community-based doula who has received training and education as a doula from an entity approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and been certified as a doula by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose and that no entity shall hold itself out as providing training and education necessary to meet the requirements for certification as a doula unless its curriculum and training program has been approved by a body approved by the Board of Health for such purpose. The bill also directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations setting forth the requirements for (i) use of the title "state-certified doula" and (ii) training and education necessary to satisfy the requirements for certification by the Department of Health as a state-certified doula.
State Corporation Commission; retirement of coal-fired or natural gas-fired electric generation facilities. Requires the State Corporation Commission to determine the amortization period for recovery of any appropriate costs due to the early retirement of any coal-fired or natural gas-fired electric generation facilities owned or operated by any Phase I or Phase II Utility. The bill requires the Commission, in making such determination, to (i) perform an independent analysis of the remaining undepreciated capital costs; (ii) establish a recovery period that best serves ratepayers; and (iii) allow for the recovery of any carrying costs that the Commission, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.
Commission on Electric Utility Regulation. Postpones the scheduled expiration of the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022.
Health insurance; coverage for autism spectrum disorder. Requires health insurers, corporations providing health care subscription plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder under insurance policies, subscription contracts, or health care plans issued in the individual market or small group markets. The existing requirement that such coverage be provided for policies, contracts, or plans issued in the large group market is not affected. The provision applies with respect to insurance policies, subscription contracts, and health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended on or after January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates HB 1043 and is identical to SB 1031.
Revision of Title 55. Makes technical amendmentsrelating to the revision and recodification of Title 55 enacted inthe 2019 Session. The bill also implements clarifying changes andother changes made in the revision and recodification. This billis a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.
Deeds not taxable; deeds involving only spouses. Replaces the term "husband and wife" with "spouses" for purposes of the recordation tax exemption for certain deeds.
Town of Dublin, highway maintenance. Addsthe Town of Dublin to the list of localities authorized to receivestate funds for the performance of certain highway maintenance projects.
