Sen. Todd Pillion

Commending the Washington Nationals.

Celebrating the life of Alan Arnold Diamonstein.

Commending the Washington Nationals.

Provides that any person convicted of capital murder of a law-enforcement officer or certain other public safety officials who was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense shall be sentenced to no less than a mandatory minimum term of confinement for life. This bill is identical to

Authorizes localities to regulate the operation of companies providing motorized skateboards or scooters for hire. The bill changes the definition of motorized skateboard or scooter by (i) removing the requirement that such device have no seat and requiring that the device be designed to allow a person to stand or sit, (ii) removing the maximum power limits for such device and providing that the device may be powered in whole or in part by an electric motor, (iii) providing that the device has a speed of no more than 20 miles per hour, and (iv) providing that such device weighs less than 100 pounds. The bill makes consistent the operational requirements for motorized skateboards or scooters and similar devices, including (a) allowing motorized skateboards and scooters to be driven on sidewalks, (b) requiring motorized skateboards and scooters driven on a roadway to be driven as close to the right curb as is safely practicable, (c) prohibiting the operation of motorized skateboards or scooters on any Interstate Highway System component, and (d) requiring operators of motorized skateboards and scooters to give hand signals and have lights on such devices. The bill prohibits operating a motorized skateboard or scooter at a speed faster than 20 miles per hour. Certain provisions of this bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2020.

Provides certain exceptions, effective July 1, 2020, to the requirement that any prescription for a controlled substance that contains an opioid be issued as an electronic prescription. The bill requires the licensing health regulatory board of a prescriber to grant such prescriber a waiver of the electronic prescription requirement for a period not to exceed one year due to demonstrated economic hardship, technological limitations that are not reasonably within the control of the prescriber, or other exceptional circumstances demonstrated by the prescriber. The bill provides that a dispenser is not required to verify whether one of the exceptions applies when he receives a non-electronic prescription for a controlled substance containing an opioid. The bill requires the Boards of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, and Optometry to promulgate regulations to implement the prescriber waivers. Finally, the bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a work group to identify successes and challenges of the electronic prescription requirement and offer possible recommendations for increasing the electronic prescribing of controlled substances that contain an opioid and to report to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2022.

Requires that any contract between a carrier and its intermediary pursuant to which the intermediary has the right or obligation to conduct audits of participating pharmacy providers and any provider contract between a carrier and a participating pharmacy provider or its contracting agent pursuant to which the carrier has the right or obligation to conduct audits of participating pharmacy providers contain certain terms and provisions relating to audits that will apply in the absence of fraud. The terms and provisions (i) require at least 14 days' written notice before conducting the initial audit for each audit cycle; (ii) prohibit the initiation or scheduling of an onsite audit during the first five calendar days of any month or on a Monday; (iii) prohibit an onsite audit of a particular pharmacy location on behalf of a particular carrier more than once in a 12-month period; (iv) require each pharmacy to be audited under the same standards and parameters as every other similarly situated pharmacy; (v) require any audit issues that involve clinical or professional judgment to be conducted by a pharmacist who has available for consultation a pharmacist licensed by the Commonwealth; (vi) require each audit to be conducted by a field agent who possesses the requisite knowledge and experience in pharmacy practice; (vii) require audits to be conducted in the Commonwealth in compliance with federal and state laws, rules, and regulations; (viii) require prescriptions to be considered valid prescriptions if they are compliant with the then-current Board of Pharmacy rules and regulations and have been successfully adjudicated upon a clean claim submission; (ix) require electronic records and documentation to be acceptable for auditing under the same terms, conditions, and validation and for the same purposes as their paper analogs; (x) permit a pharmacy to use the historical records of a hospital, physician, or other authorized practitioner of the healing arts for drugs or medicinal supplies written and transmitted by any documented means of communication for purposes of validating the pharmacy record with respect to orders or refills of a legend or narcotic drug; (xi) require validation and documentation at the time of dispensing of appropriate days' supply and drug dosing to be based on manufacturer guidelines and definitions or, in the case of topical products or titrated products, based on the professional judgment of the pharmacist in communication with the patient or prescriber; (xii) require a pharmacy's usual and customary price for compounded medications to be considered the reimbursable cost unless the pricing methodology is published in the provider contract and signed by both parties or their agents; (xiii) prohibit a carrier or its intermediary from making charge backs or seeking recoupment from a pharmacy, or assessing or collecting penalties from a pharmacy, until the time period for filing an appeal to an initial audit report has passed or until the appeals process has been exhausted, whichever is later; (xiv) establish requirements for a preliminary audit report; (xv) require a pharmacy to be allowed at least 60 calendar days following receipt of the preliminary audit report in which to produce documentation to address any discrepancy found during an audit or to file an appeal; (xvi) establish time periods during which a final audit report containing claim level information for any discrepancy found and total dollar amount of claims subject to recovery is required to be delivered to the pharmacy or its pharmacy corporate office; (xvii) prohibit a carrier or its intermediary from recovering from the pharmacy payment of claims that is identified through the audit process to be the responsibility of another payer; (xviii) prohibit recoupment of amounts paid to a pharmacy for any claim to be made solely on the basis of a prescriber's or patient's lack of response to a request made by a carrier or its intermediary; (xix) require a carrier or its intermediary to issue its initial audit findings in conformity with the laws of the Commonwealth; and (xx) prohibit a carrier or its intermediary from retroactively denying a claim in certain circumstances.

Allows for any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in person beginning on the second Saturday immediately preceding any election in which he is qualified to vote without providing a reason or making prior application for an absentee ballot. The bill makes absentee voting in person available beginning on the forty-fifth day prior to the election and ending at 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday immediately preceding the election. The bill retains the current provisions for voting with an absentee ballot by mail or in person prior to the second Saturday immediately preceding the election, including the application requirement and the list of statutory reasons for absentee voting. The provisions of the bill do not become effective until the November 3, 2020, general election, and the State Board of Elections is required to submit a report on the procedures and instructions it promulgates for conducting absentee voting pursuant to the provisions of the bill. This bill is identical to