Del. Bill Flanigan

Maddy summaryHB 2557, the Remote Patient Outcome Improvement Act, allows health insurers and medical providers to partner with internet service providers to set up home internet connections specifically for transmitting patients' real-time vital signs and medical device data. This aims to help identify health trends early, potentially preventing emergency visits, and directly affects patients (who can opt out), health insurers, medical providers, and internet service providers. Key provisions require that such data transmission must improve patient outcomes and reduce care costs, cannot be used to increase patient costs or limit services, and permits sharing of necessary network information with medical device manufacturers for troubleshooting. The bill creates a legal framework for this data sharing while prohibiting negative impacts on patient costs or coverage access.

Maddy summaryHB 2565 prohibits West Virginia municipalities from charging user fees to employees who were not physically present in the municipality while performing job duties. This directly affects employees and their employers, particularly those working for companies serving multiple jurisdictions but not physically located in a specific city during their work. The bill requires employers to provide a sworn affidavit confirming the employee's absence, and if a fee was incorrectly charged, the municipality must issue a credit for future payments. The law amends existing fee regulations to prevent municipalities from imposing such fees when the employee's work did not occur within the city limits.