Del. Dawn Adams

Commissioner of Social Services; work group; plan for licensure of prescribed pediatric extended care centers in the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Commissioner of Social Services to establish a work group to develop a plan for the licensure of prescribed pediatric extended care centers in the Commonwealth. The work group shall report the plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2020.

Health insurance; cost-sharing payments for prescription insulin drugs. Prohibits health insurance companies and other carriers from setting an amount exceeding $30 per 30-day supply that a covered person is required to pay at the point of sale in order to receive a covered prescription insulin drug. The measure also prohibits a provider contract between a carrier or its pharmacy benefits manager and a pharmacy from containing a provision (i) authorizing the carrier's pharmacy benefits manager or the pharmacy to charge, (ii) requiring the pharmacy to collect, or (iii) requiring a covered person to make a cost-sharing payment for a covered prescription insulin drug in an amount that exceeds such limitation. This bill incorporates HB 1403.

Comprehensive harm reduction programs. Repeals the sunset on the authority of the Commissioner of Health to establish and operate local or regional comprehensive harm reduction programs that include the distribution of sterile hypodermic needles and syringes and the disposal of used hypodermic needles and syringes; allows a local health department or other organization that promotes scientifically proven methods of mitigating health risks associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors to establish comprehensive harm reduction programs, if authorized by the Commissioner of Health; and eliminates the requirement that comprehensive harm reduction programs be located in communities for which data indicates an increase in or increased risk of transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, or other blood-borne disease as a result of injection drug use.

State plan for medical assistance; perinatal birth workers. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to convene a work group to (i) evaluate the potential costs and benefits, including potential reductions in maternal and infant mortality rates, of amending the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for the payment of medical assistance for antepartum, intrapartum, or postpartum services provided to a pregnant person or to a person who is up to one year postpartum for labor and delivery support by a certified doula and at least four visits during the antenatal period and at least seven visits during the postpartum period with a certified doula and (ii) develop recommendations related to an appropriate reimbursement rate for such services provided by certified doulas. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by December 1, 2020.

Signals; overtaking vehicle. Removes the requirement that the driver of an overtaking vehicle use his lights or an audible method to signal to the driver of a slower vehicle to move to the right. The bill does not change the requirement that the slower-moving vehicle move to the right for an overtaking vehicle.

Plastic Waste Prevention Advisory Council. Establishes in the executive branch of state government the Plastic Waste Prevention Advisory Council to study and make recommendations regarding plastic pollution problems in the Commonwealth, with the mission of eliminating plastic waste and contributing to the achievement of plastics packaging circular economy industry standards. The bill has a sunset date of June 30, 2023.

Worker cooperatives. Establishes worker cooperatives as a category of cooperative associations. A worker cooperative is a stock corporation that has elected to be governed by provisions established by this measure, which include (i) conducting its business primarily for the mutual benefit of its members, (ii) allowing only current and retired employees to be members, (iii) limiting voting rights to current employees, (iv) providing that each employee is entitled to one vote, (v) prohibiting any person from owning more than one membership share, (vi) requiring at least two-thirds of employees to own membership shares, and (vii) requiring that net earnings be paid or credited to members in accordance with the ratio that each member's amount of work performed during a period bears to the total amount of work performed by all members during that period.

Services for survivors of sexual assault. Requires every hospital in the Commonwealth to provide treatment or transfer services, as defined in the bill, to survivors of sexual assault pursuant to a plan approved by the Department of Health; establishes specific requirements for providers of services to pediatric survivors of sexual assault; requires the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund to pay the costs of services provided to survivors of sexual assault; establishes the Task Force on Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault to facilitate the development of services for survivors of sexual assault; and establishes the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Program to increase the number of qualified sexual assault forensic services providers available in the Commonwealth.

Hate crimes; gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation; penalty. Adds gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also adds gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of hate crimes that are to be reported to the central repository of information regarding hate crimes maintained by the Virginia State Police. The bill provides that a person who is subjected to acts of intimidation or harassment, violence directed against his person, or vandalism to his real or personal property, where such acts are motivated by gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation, may bring a civil action to recover his damages. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum terms of confinement for such hate crimes. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act. This bill incorporates HB 488.

Health insurance; clinical nurse specialists. Prohibits health insurers and health service plan providers whose policies or contracts cover services that may be legally performed by a licensed clinical nurse specialist from denying reimbursement because the service is rendered by a licensed clinical nurse specialist. The measure removes the existing limitation that requires such reimbursement only to licensed clinical nurse specialists who render mental health services.