Sen. David Suetterlein

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Celebrating the life of the Honorable AugustusBenton Chafin, Jr.

Board of Medicine; medically unnecessary chaperones. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend its regulations to requirethat patients be notified that they have the right to opt out of thepresence of a chaperone during medical examinations, provided thatthe chaperone is medically unnecessary. The bill also requires the regulations to include a provision permitting health care practitionersto refuse to perform medical services for a patient who refuses thepresence of a chaperone.

Milk; definition; misbranding; prohibition.Defines milk as the lacteal secretion of a healthy hooved mammaland provides that a food product is unlawfully misbranded if its label states that it is milk and it fails to meet such definition, exceptfor human breast milk. The bill directs the Board of Agricultureand Consumer Services to implement a plan to ban all products misbrandedas milk.

Department of Education; federal accountabilityindicators; PSAT/NMSQT; PreACT. Directs the Department of Education to amend its state plan pursuant to the Every Student Succeeds Actto include the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship QualifyingTest and the PreACT in the next federal accountability indicatorsapplication. The bill directs the Department and the Board of Educationto grant verified credit to students who have earned approved scoreson these two tests and permit schools to count those students asa "pass."

Department of Education; pilot program; feasibility ofeducational placement transition of certain students with disabilities.Requires the Department of Education and relevant local school boards to developand implement a pilot program for up to four years in two to eight local schooldivisions in the Commonwealth. In developing the pilot, the Department isrequired to partner with the appropriate school board employees in each suchlocal school division to (i) identify the resources, services, and supportsrequired by each student who resides in each such local school division and whois educated in a private school setting pursuant to his IndividualizedEducation Program; (ii) study the feasibility of transitioning each suchstudent from his private school setting to an appropriate public school settingin the local school division and providing the identified resources, services,and supports in such public school setting; and (iii) recommend a process forredirecting federal, state, and local funds, including funds provided pursuantto the Children's Services Act, provided for the education of each such studentto the local school division for the purpose of providing the identifiedresources, services, and supports in the appropriate public school setting. Thebill requires the Department of Education to make a report to the Governor, theSenate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committeeson Education and Appropriations on the findings of each pilot program after twoand four years.

Individual and corporate income tax credit;employers of National Guard members and self-employed National Guardmembers. Provides for taxable years 2020 through 2024 a nonrefundabletax credit against individual and corporate income taxes for (i) wages paid by an employer to an employee who is a Virginia NationalGuard member or (ii) income of a self-employed Virginia NationalGuard member attributable to his business. The amount of the credit shall be 25 percent if such member was in a military pay status for65 days or more during such taxable year or 15 percent if such memberwas in a military pay status for 45 days or more during such taxableyear. The credit shall not be allowed if such member was in a militarypay status for less than 45 days during such taxable year. The billallows a taxpayer to carry unused credits over for up to five taxable years.

Group health benefit plans; bona fide associations; benefits consortium. Provides that certain trusts constitute a benefits consortium and are authorized to sell health benefits plans to members of a sponsoring association that (i) has been formed and maintained in good faith for purposes other than obtaining or providing health benefits; (ii) does not condition membership in the sponsoring association on any factor relating to the health status of an individual, including an employee of a member of the sponsoring association or a dependent of such an employee; (iii) makes any health benefit plan available to all members regardless of any factor relating to the health status of such members or individuals eligible for coverage through a member; (iv) does not make any health benefit plan available to any person who is not a member of the association; (v) makes available health plans or health benefit plans that meet requirements provided for in the bill; (vi) operates as a nonprofit entity under § 501(c)(5) or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (vii) has been in active existence for at least five years. The bill replaces references to "bona fide association," as used in provisions applicable to health care plans in the small employer market, with the term "sponsoring association."The bill requires any health benefit plan issued by a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) that covers one or more employees of one or more small employers to (a) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements; (b) offer a minimum level of coverage designed to provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan; (c) not limit or exclude coverage for an individual by imposing a preexisting condition exclusion on that individual; (d) be prohibited from establishing discriminatory rules based on health status related to eligibility or premium or contribution requirements as imposed on health carriers; (e) meet the renewability standards set forth for health insurance issuers; (f) establish base rates formed on an actuarially sound, modified community rating methodology that considers the pooling of all participant claims; and (g) utilize each employer member's specific risk profile to determine premiums by actuarially adjusting above or below established base rates, and utilize either pooling or reinsurance of individual large claimants to reduce the adverse impact on any specific employer member's premiums.The bill prohibits a self-funded MEWA from issuing health benefit plans in the Commonwealth until it has obtained a license pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Commission. The bill authorizes the Commission to adopt regulations applicable to self-funded MEWAs, including regulations addressing financial condition, solvency requirements, and the exclusion of self-funded MEWAs from the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association.

Health insurance; association health plans. Provides that for policies of group accident and sickness insurance issued to an association, members of such an association may include (i) a self-employed individual and (ii) an employer member (a) with at least one employee that is domiciled in the Commonwealth or (b) that has a principal place of business that does not exceed the boundaries of a metropolitan area that is at least partially in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that for such policies issued to an association that covers at least 51 members and employees of employer members of such association on the first day of the plan year the policies shall be considered a large group market plan and are required to meet various provisions in the bill. The bill provides that to determine the size of an association all of the members and employees of employer members are aggregated and treated as employed by a single employer.The bill requires an insurer issuing a policy to an association to (1) treat all of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (2) set premiums based on the collective group experience of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (3) vary premiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than 5 to 1 for adults; (4) not vary premiums based on gender; (5) not establish discriminatory rules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employee of an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility or contribution.The bill requires the Commissioner of Insurance to, within 90 days of the enactment of the bill, apply to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for a state innovation waiver under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, to implement the provisions of the bill. The provisions of the bill regarding association health plans will become effective 30 days following the date the Commissioner of Insurance notifies the Governor and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Commerce and Labor of federal approval of such waiver.

Review of death of inmates in local correctional facilities; report. Provides that the Board of Corrections shall publish, on its website, an annual report summarizing the jail death reviews conducted by the Board within that year. The bill provides that such report shall include any trends or similarities among the deaths of inmates in local correctional facilities and present recommendations on policy changes to reduce the number of deaths in local correctional facilities.