Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider with prescriptive authority, or its contracting agent, contain provisions that require, when a carrier has previously approved prior authorization for any drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, no additional prior authorization can be required if (i) the drug is a covered benefit, (ii) the prescription does not exceed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-labeled dosages, (iii) the prescription has been continuously issued for no fewer than three months, and (iv) the prescriber performs an annual review of the patient to evaluate the drug's continued efficacy, changes in the patient's health status, and potential contraindications. The bill provides that this requirement does not prohibit a carrier from requiring prior authorization for any drug that is not listed on its prescription drug formulary at the time the initial prescription is issued. The bill also provides that such provider contracts contain provisions requiring a carrier to honor a prior authorization issued by the carrier for a drug regardless if the drug is removed from the carrier's prescription drug formulary after the initial prescription for that drug is issued. Under the bill, provisions related to provider contracts and prior authorization will apply to the state insurance health plan.
Sponsored bills
George Mason University; management agreement. Provides a management agreement between the Commonwealth and George Mason University pursuant to the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act (§ 23.1-1000 et seq.).
Consumer Data Protection Act. Establishes a framework for controlling and processing personal data in the Commonwealth. The bill applies to all persons that conduct business in the Commonwealth and either (i) control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers or (ii) derive over 50 percent of gross revenue from the sale of personal data and control or process personal data of at least 25,000 consumers. The bill outlines responsibilities and privacy protection standards for data controllers and processors. The bill does not apply to state or local governmental entities and contains exceptions for certain types of data and information governed by federal law. The bill grants consumer rights to access, correct, delete, obtain a copy of personal data, and to opt out of the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising. The bill provides that the Attorney General has exclusive authority to enforce violations of the law, and the Consumer Privacy Fund is created to support this effort. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.
Board of Local and Regional Jails; powers and duties. Restores the authority of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to (i) ensure the development of long-range policies, programs, and plans for corrections services provided at the state and local levels; (ii) review and comment on all budgets and requests for appropriations for the Department of Corrections (the Department) prior to submission to the Governor and on all applications for federal funds; and (iii) monitor the activities of the Department and its effectiveness in implementing the standards and goals of the Board. Chapter 375 of the Acts of Assembly of 2011 repealed the Board's authority to perform these functions. The bill also provides to the Board the power and duty to (a) develop and establish operational and fiscal standards governing the operation of state correctional facilities; (b) make, adopt, and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the laws of the Commonwealth pertaining to state correctional facilities; (c) develop and implement policies and procedures for the review of the death of any inmate that the Board determines warrants review that occurs in any state correctional facility; (d) establish minimum standards for health care services, including medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and behavioral health services, in state correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards; (e) review and approve the content and frequency of correctional officer training programs provided by the Department; and (f) collect and review information on disciplinary practices and trends in state, local, regional, and community correctional facilities and, as appropriate, adopt rules and regulations to improve disciplinary practices. The bill also increases from nine to 14 the number of members to be appointed to the Board and modifies the eligibility requirements for such members. The bill allows, despite such modifications to Board membership eligibility requirements, current members of the Board to continue serving for the remainder of the members' current, unexpired term. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Vehicle registration fees; Public Safety TrustFund. Imposes an additional $4 vehicle registration fee to bedeposited into the Public Safety Trust Fund, established by the bill.The moneys in the Public Safety Trust Fund are to be used to eliminate barriers to an inclusive, diverse, and well-qualified workforce byaddressing compensation issues related to staffing, retention, andpay compression at the Department of State Police.
Absentee voting; mandatory processing of returned absentee ballots before election day; central absentee voter precinct in the office of the general registrar. Requires certain actions to be taken to process absentee ballots that are returned by mail before election day. The general registrar is required to (i) examine the ballot envelopes to verify completion of the required voter affirmation; (ii) mark the pollbook, or the absentee voter applicant list if the pollbook is not available, that the voter has voted; and (iii) direct the officers of election at a central absentee precinct to open the sealed ballot envelopes and insert the ballots in optical scan counting equipment or other secure ballot container without initiating any ballot count totals. Under current law, the general registrar is required to conduct preprocessing of absentee ballots before election day only as needed. To facilitate preprocessing as provided in the bill, the bill requires a central absentee voter precinct to be established and maintained in each locality. Additional central absentee voter precincts may be established at the discretion of the governing body.
Environmental justice; interagency working group. Establishes the Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group as an advisory council in the executive branch of state government to further environmental justice in the Commonwealth and directs each of the Governor's Secretaries to designate at least one environmental justice coordinator to represent the secretariat as a member of the Working Group. The bill provides that the Working Group shall expire on July 1, 2031. The bill directs each state agency, no later than October 1, 2021, to adopt an agency-specific environmental justice policy that requires an evaluation of the environmental justice consequences of any covered agency action, requires a consideration of the environmental justice consequences or cumulative impacts of the administration of regulations, and contains other features, including robust public participation plans for residents of environmental justice communities and fenceline communities potentially affected by a covered agency action.
Virginia Digital Equity Pilot Program and Fund. Requires the Department of Social Services to establish a pilot program to provide a fixed reimbursement for the costs of broadband services to households currently participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2024. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Standards of Learning assessments; reduction; report. Reduces the total number and type of required Standardsof Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, asamended. The bill requires the Department of Education to annuallyreport on the estimated projected and actual savings from the implementationof the bill and report the amount of such savings to the Governorand the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and theSenate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than the first day of each Regular Session of the General Assembly. The billalso requires that such amount be included in the total for DirectAid to Public Education in any general appropriation act.
Compensation Board determining staffing and salaries for an attorney for the Commonwealth. Provides that the Compensation Board shall consider workload totals comprehensively, including the use of diversion programs and specialty dockets, when determining staffing and funding levels for an attorney for the Commonwealth and the office. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.