Del. Roxann Robinson

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Solemn Covenant of the States to Award Prizesfor Curing Diseases; compact. Establishes a compact to award prizes for curing diseases. The compact shall become effective upon enactmentinto law by two states.

Individual and corporate income tax credit;employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guardmembers. Provides for taxable years 2020 through 2024 a nonrefundabletax credit against individual and corporate income taxes for (i) wages paid by an employer to an employee who is an active or reserveVirginia National Guard member or (ii) income of a self-employedactive or reserve Virginia National Guard member attributable to his business. The amount of the credit shall be 25 percent if such memberwas in a military pay status for 65 days or more during such taxableyear or 15 percent if such member was in a military pay status forat least 45 days but less than 65 days during such taxable year.The credit shall not be allowed if such member was in a military pay status for less than 45 days during such taxable year. The billallows a taxpayer to carry unused credits over for up to five taxableyears.

Health insurance; provider contracts; business practices;penalties. Provides that amendments to a provider contract or any materialprovision, addenda, schedule, exhibit, or policy thereto, as it relates to anymaterial provision that was agreed to or accepted by the provider in theprevious 12-month period, or that occurred during the current term of theprovider contract and resulted in an adverse change, are not effective unlessagreed to by the provider in writing. The measure requires such an amendment tobe agreed to by the provider in a signed written amendment to the providercontract. The measure defines a material provision of a provider contract asany policy manual, coverage guideline, edit, multiple procedure logic, or auditprocedure that (i) decreases the provider's payment or compensation, (ii)limits an enrollee's access to covered services under his health plan, or (iii)changes the administrative procedures applicable to a provider contract in away that may reasonably be expected to significantly increase the provider'sadministrative expense. The measure requires carriers to permit a provider todetermine the carrier's policies regarding the use of edits or multipleprocedure logic. The measure requires carriers to provide, for each health planin which the provider participates or is proposed to participate, a completefee schedule for all health care services included under the provider contractwith the provider in writing and to make such fee schedules available inmachine-readable electronic format. The measure requires a provider contract topermit a provider a minimum of one year from the date a health care service isrendered to submit a claim for payment, unless otherwise agreed upon. Themeasure also (a) requires the State Corporation Commission to assist providersand to examine and investigate provider complaints and inquiries relating to analleged or suspected failure by a carrier to comply with required minimum fairbusiness standards, (b) requires the Commission to provide a determination ofwhether a carrier has failed to comply with these standards within 60 days ofreceipt of a provider's complaint or inquiry, (c) authorizes the Commission todetermine whether a carrier's practices comply with these standards, (d)subjects a person that refuses or fails to provide information in a timelymanner to the Commission to enforcement and penalty provisions, and (e)authorizes the Commission to impose penalties or issue a cease and desist orderto a carrier that fails to comply with these standards.

Health insurance; association health plans. Providesthat for policies of group accident and sickness insurance issued to anassociation, members of such an association may include (i) a self-employedindividual and (ii) an employer member (a) with at least one employee that isdomiciled in the Commonwealth or (b) that has a principal place of businessthat does not exceed the boundaries of a metropolitan area that is at leastpartially in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that for such policies issuedto an association that covers at least 51 members and employees of employermembers of such association on the first day of the plan year the policiesshall be considered a large group market plan and are required to meet variousprovisions in the bill. The bill provides that to determine the size of anassociation all of the members and employees of employer members are aggregatedand treated as employed by a single employer.The bill requires an insurer issuing a policy to anassociation to (1) treat all of the members and employees of employer memberswho are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (2) setpremiums based on the collective group experience of the members and employeesof employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (3) varypremiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than 5 to 1 foradults; (4) not vary premiums based on gender; (5) not establish discriminatoryrules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employeeof an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility orcontribution.The bill requires the Commissioner of Insurance to, within 90days of the enactment of the bill, apply to the U.S. Secretary of Health andHuman Services for a state innovation waiver under the federal PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, to implement the provisionsof the bill. The provisions of the bill regarding association health plans willbecome effective 30 days following the date the Commissioner of Insurancenotifies the Governor and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees onCommerce and Labor of federal approval of such waiver.

Chesterfield County School Board; recoveryhigh school. Permits the Chesterfield County School Board, withsuch funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to thegeneral appropriation act, to establish a recovery high school inthe school division as a year-round high school (i) for which enrollmentis open to any high school student who resides in Superintendent'sRegion 1 and is in the early stages of recovery from substance usedisorder or dependency and (ii) for the purpose of providing suchstudents with the academic, emotional, and social support necessaryto make progress toward earning a high school diploma and reintegratinginto a traditional high school setting.

Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Provides that whenever called to state active duty in response to certain emergencies, members of the National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force receive pay and allowance equal to their rank and years of service, as determined by the Department of Military Affairs. The bill also authorizes the Adjutant General to increase state active duty pay on an annual basis by a rate not to exceed the most recent percentage increase in basic pay for members of the Armed Forces. Current law provides that (i) officers of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as prescribed for members of like rank in the United States Armed Forces, (ii) members of the National Guard receive the same pay and allowances as if they were on a day of Annual Training, and (iii) members of the Virginia Defense Force called to state active duty receive the same pay and allowances as persons of like grade in the National Guard for a day of Annual Training, capped at 25 years of service. The provisions of the bills are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Massage therapists; qualifications; license. Provides that an applicant who completed a massage therapy educational program in a foreign country may apply for licensure as a massage therapist upon submission of evidence that the applicant (i) is at least 18 years old, (ii) has successfully completed a massage therapy educational program that is comparable to a massage therapy educational program required for licensure by the Board, (iii) has passed a Board-approved English language proficiency examination, and (iv) has not committed any acts or omissions that would be grounds for disciplinary action or denial of licensure. The Board of Nursing shall issue a license to an applicant who completed his massage therapy educational program in a foreign country upon submission of evidence of completion of the English-language version of the Licensing Examination of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards or a comparable examination.

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.