Sen. Chris Head

Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to implement a process for direct payment of nursing facility or ICF/MR services for hospice patients receiving services in a nursing facility or ICF/MR, if such patient would be eligible for medical assistance for nursing facility or ICF/MR services had he not elected to receive hospice care. The bill provides that payments made to a nursing facility or ICF/MR shall be the full amount that would be paid to the nursing facility or ICF/MR, if the individual was not receiving hospice services, and shall not reflect any discount to such rates.

Exempts the operators of emergency medical services agency vehicles, fire company vehicles, fire department vehicles, and law-enforcement agency vehicles during the performance of their official duties from (i) the requirement that certain minors be secured with a safety belt and (ii) the requirement that minors under the age of eight be secured in a child restraint device, provided that exigent circumstances exist and no child restraint device is readily available. This bill is identical to

Requires the plans and specifications for new or remodeled public school building construction to be reviewed by an individual or entity with professional expertise in crime prevention through environmental design. All comments by such reviewer shall be submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction along with the final plans and specifications.

Requires insurers, corporations, or health maintenance organizations to cover medically necessary remote patient monitoring services as part of their coverage of telemedicine services to the full extent that these services are available. The bill defines remote patient monitoring services as the delivery of home health services using telecommunications technology to enhance the delivery of home health care, including monitoring of clinical patient data such as weight, blood pressure, pulse, pulse oximetry, blood glucose, and other condition-specific data; medication adherence monitoring; and interactive video conferencing with or without digital image upload. The bill requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include in the state plan for medical assistance services a provision for the payment of medical assistance for medically necessary health care services provided through telemedicine services. This bill is identical to

Establishes the Commission on Student Behavioral Health as a legislative branch commission. The purpose of the Commission shall be to (i) assess the efficacy of developing and implementing a statewide behavioral health and suicide prevention hotline that students may use to report threats of violence or receive real-time counseling services; (ii) review the current school counselor-to-student ratio, and whether the realignment of counseling responsibilities proposed by the House Select Committee on School Safety is improving schools' ability to provide counseling services to students; (iii) review the current roles and responsibilities of school nurses, psychologists, and social workers in schools and determine whether a realignment of responsibilities could improve or streamline behavioral health services offered to students; (iv) evaluate the efficacy and costs of providing enhanced behavioral health services in schools delivered through partnerships established between school divisions and local departments of social services and community services boards; (v) assess the effectiveness of de-escalation and other alternative disciplinary policies when interacting with students suffering from behavioral health challenges; (vi) examine the value of additional teacher training requirements on student behavioral health, such as mental health first aid; and (vii) examine other topics related to student behavioral health identified by the Commission. The Commission shall consist of 12 members as follows: seven members of the House of Delegates, of whom two shall be members of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, two shall be members of the House Committee on Education, two shall be members of the House Committee on Appropriations, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and five members of the Senate, of whom two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, two shall be members of the Senate Committee on Finance, and one shall be a member at-large, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The Commission may appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. The Commission may also employ experts who have special knowledge of the issues before it. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Commission, upon request. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2021.

Requires each school board to develop training on safety procedures in the event of an emergency situation on school property. The bill requires such training to be delivered to each student and employee in each school at least once each school year. This bill is identical to