Study; joint subcommittee; oversight of Medicaid managed care organizations and provider networks in the Commonwealth; report. Establishes a joint subcommittee to study oversight of Medicaid managed care organizations and provider networks in the Commonwealth, including (i) the current process by which the Department of Medical Assistance Services enters into contracts with managed care organizations for the delivery of services to Medicaid enrollees and the requirements of such contracts; (ii) the process by which managed care organizations enter into and terminate contracts with providers in the Commonwealth, including any procedural requirements that must be met before a provider agreement is terminated and any opportunity for communication and correction by the provider; (iii) managed care organizations' provider networks, including demographic information about enrolled providers and recent changes in managed care organizations' provider networks, including demographic information about providers that have been added to or removed from provider networks in recent years; and (iv) whether changes should be made to contracts between the Department of Medical Assistance Services and managed care organizations to ensure providers are able to meet agreements set forth in provider agreements while ensuring the safety and well-being of Medicaid enrollees, and to develop recommendations for improving the process by which providers of Medicaid services are recruited, enrolled in, participate in, and are terminated from provider networks to ensure access to a diverse array of services and providers for all Medicaid enrollees in the Commonwealth. The joint subcommittee shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2021, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2022 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Sponsored bills
Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; alternative approaches to the Commonwealth's enforcement scheme for the possessionof controlled substances, including decriminalization; report.Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to study the proprietyand effectiveness of alternative approaches to the Commonwealth'senforcement scheme for the possession of controlled substances, includingdecriminalization of the possession of such substances.
Study; Department of Labor and Industry; apprenticeship programs; report. Requests the Department of Labor and Industryto study the need for apprenticeship training programs in Virginia,including (i) the future workforce needs of the construction industry;(ii) the economic impacts of a lack of highly skilled, well-trainedcraft personnel; (iii) construction industry workforce needs in theCommonwealth in response to potential large-scale investments in infrastructure by the federal government; (iv) what role apprenticeshipprograms will play in the development and acceleration of new industries,such as renewable energy; (v) whether the expansion of apprenticeshipswould contribute to greater diversity in construction workforce participationfrom women and people of color; and (vi) how expanding apprenticeshiptraining programs would affect job security and workplace safety in the Commonwealth. In addition, the Department is requested toundertake an in-depth study of best practices used by state governmentsand convene a stakeholder advisory group to discuss expansion ofcritically needed apprenticeship training programs in the Commonwealth'sconstruction industry.
Study; Secretary of Health and Human Resources; pharmaceutical distribution payment system; report. Requeststhe Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work groupto examine the pharmaceutical distribution payment system in the Commonwealth and innovative solutions to address the cost of prescriptiondrugs to Virginians at the point of sale.
Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases; local authority to apply to certain emergency services personnel. Adds full-time, salaried emergency medical services personnel employed by any locality that has authorized such presumption by ordinance to the list of persons to whom, after five years of service, the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease applies. This bill was incorporated into HB 1818.
Recognizing that global warming caused by humanactivity has resulted in a climate and ecological emergency.Expresses the sense of the General Assembly in recognizing that global warming caused by human activity that increases emissions of greenhousegases has resulted in a climate and ecological emergency.
Study; JLARC; remote sales and use tax distributionto localities; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit andReview Commission (JLARC) to study the distribution of remote salesand use taxes to localities. JLARC shall determine whether currentpractices are distributing the proper amount of revenue to each localityand recommend to the General Assembly any changes needed to improvethe system.
Intentional injury to property or amonument or memorial; penalty. Reduces from a Class 6 felony toa Class 1 misdemeanor the penalty for damages of $1,000 or morefor the crime of intentional injury or destruction of (i) any property,real or personal, not his own or (ii) a monument or memorial forwar veterans, a monument erected to mark the site of an engagementfought during the Civil War, or a memorial to designate the boundaryof a city, town, or tract of land.
Paid family and medical leave program. Requires the Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administera paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2024. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program isprovided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginningin 2023. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee'saverage weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weeklywage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflectchanges in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps theduration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The billprovides self-employed individuals the option of participating inthe program.
Medical assistance; coverage for reproductivehealth services. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Servicesto include in the state plan for medical assistance services a provisionfor the payment of medical assistance for medically necessary reproductivehealth care service for eligible individuals, and provides that medical benefits required to be provided to individuals eligible for medicalassistance under the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security(FAMIS) Plan shall include reproductive health care services forwhich the payment of medical assistance is required under the stateplan for medical assistance. The bill directs the Board of MedicalAssistance Services to adopt emergency regulations to implement theprovisions of the bill. The bill also requires health benefit plansto cover the costs of specified health care services, drugs, devices,products, and procedures related to reproductive health. The healthbenefit plan requirements become effective when a plan is delivered, issued for delivery, reissued, or extended in the Commonwealth onand after January 1, 2022, or at any time thereafter when any termof the health benefit plan is changed or any premium adjustment ismade.