Del. James Edmunds

Commending The Woodland, Inc.

Use of handheld personal communications devices; schoolzones and school property; penalty. Adds school crossing zones and schoolproperty to the locations in which a driver is prohibited from holding ahandheld personal communications device in his hand while driving a motorvehicle, with certain exceptions. The bill provides that a violation ispunishable by a mandatory fine of $250. Current law prohibits (i) the readingof an email or text message on the device and manually entering letters or textin the device as a means of communicating and (ii) the holding of a handheldpersonal communication device in a highway work zone, with the same exceptions.This bill was incorporated into HB 874.

Commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. RobertRussa Moton.

Leave for volunteer firefighters and emergencymedical services providers. Requires private employers to allowvolunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical services providersto take leaves of absence from their employment at times when the employee leaves work, or is late for work, due to the employee'sproviding emergency services as a volunteer firefighter or volunteeremergency medical services provider for or on behalf of, and withinthe scope of his duties with, his volunteer fire department, or isreturning from providing such emergency services. This provisiondoes not apply if the absence of employees from the place of employmentreduces the number of employees remaining on the job or at work atsuch place of employment by 50 percent or more. The bill allows employersto treat such leaves of absence as unpaid leave. Employers are prohibitedfrom requiring such employee to exhaust any other leave to whichhe is entitled prior to such leaves of absence. The bill providesthat if such an employee fails to provide the employer, upon request,with verification from the chief or deputy chief of the employee'svolunteer fire department that the employee was providing such services,or returning from providing them, during the time that the employeetook a leave of absence, the employee shall not thereafter be entitledto take such leave.

Industrial hemp; testing after harvest.Directs the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, inconducting a required random test of a grower's industrial hemp forcompliance with tetrahydrocannabinol limits, to test a sample ofindustrial hemp that is collected after harvest rather than fromwithin a production field.

Commending the Loudoun Hunt.

Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Establishes rates of pay and allowances for members of the Virginia National Guard and Virginia Defense Force.

Possession, purchase, and transport of certainfirearms in certain localities; withholding state funds. Allowsa person to lawfully possess, purchase, or transport a firearm orfirearms magazine that he would otherwise be lawfully permitted to possess, purchase, or transport on January 1, 2020, while he isin a locality that has adopted or enforced any ordinance, resolution,or motion that declares such locality a sanctuary for Second Amendmentrights. The bill also provides that no funds payable by the Commonwealthto a locality for any and all purposes shall be withheld from a localitysolely on the basis of such locality adopting or enforcing any ordinance,resolution, or motion that declares such locality a sanctuary for Second Amendment rights.

Prescribing of opioids; required patient disclosures. Requires prescribers to discuss with a patient or the patient'sparent or guardian prior to prescribing an opioid information regardingthe prescribed opioid, including the risks of addiction and overdoseassociated with opioids; the dangers of taking opioids with alcohol,benzodiazepines, and other central nervous system depressants; thereasons why the prescription is necessary; and alternative treatmentsthat may be available. The bill also requires the prescriber to includea notation in the patient's medical record indicating that theserequired patient disclosures were discussed.

Pharmacy benefits managers. Requires pharmacy benefits managers to register with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Insurance. The measure prohibits a carrier on its own or through its contracted pharmacy benefits manager or representative of a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) causing or knowingly permitting the use of any advertisement, promotion, solicitation, representation, proposal, or offer that is untrue, deceptive, or misleading; (ii) charge a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee related to the adjudication of a claim; (iii) engaging, with the express intent or purpose of driving out competition or financially injuring competitors, in a pattern or practice of reimbursing retail community pharmacies or pharmacists in the Commonwealth consistently less than the amount that the pharmacy benefits manager reimburses a pharmacy benefits manager affiliate for providing the same pharmacist services; (iv) collecting or requiring a pharmacy or pharmacist to collect from an insured a copayment for a prescription drug at the point of sale in an amount that exceeds the lesser of the contracted copayment amount, the amount an individual would pay for a prescription drug if that individual was paying cash, or the contracted amount for the drug; (v) reimbursing a pharmacy or pharmacist an amount less than the amount that the pharmacy benefits manager reimburses a pharmacy benefits manager affiliate for providing the same pharmacist services, calculated on a per-unit basis using the same generic product identifier or generic code number and reflecting all drug manufacturer's rebates, direct and indirect administrative fees, and costs and any remuneration; (vi) penalize or give an inducement to a covered individual for the purpose of having the covered individual use a specific retail community pharmacy, mail order pharmacy, or another network pharmacy provider that is a pharmacy benefits manager affiliate; (vii) prohibiting a pharmacist or pharmacy from offering and providing direct and limited delivery services including incidental mailing services, to an insured as an ancillary service of the pharmacy; (viii) charging a fee related to the adjudication of a claim without providing the cause for each adjustment or fee; (ix) steer a covered individual to a pharmacy in which the pharmacy benefit manager maintains an ownership interest or control without making a written disclosure to and receiving acknowledgment from the covered individual; or (x) penalizing or retaliating against a pharmacist or pharmacy for exercising rights provided by this measure. The measure also prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing provider accreditation standards or certification requirements inconsistent with, more stringent than, or in addition to requirements of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy or other state or federal entity; (b) including any mail order pharmacy or pharmacy benefits manager affiliate in calculating or determining network adequacy; or (c) conducting spread pricing in the Commonwealth. The measure requires each carrier to ensure that, before a particular drug is placed or continues to be placed on a Maximum Allowable Cost List, the drug meets certain standards, is available for purchase in the Commonwealth, and is not obsolete. The measure establishes requirements allowing network pharmacy providers to readily access the maximum allowable cost specific to that provider and requires Maximum Allowable Cost Lists to be updated every seven days. The measure requires the establishment of reasonable appeal procedures. The measure also imposes recordkeeping and reporting requirements and provides that information or data acquired therefrom is considered proprietary and confidential and is not subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. This bill was incorporated into HB 1290.