Summary: Loan repayment programs; mental health professionals. Creates a loan repayment program for persons who have worked as mentalhealth professionals in the Commonwealth for at least five years.

Summary: Alpha-gal syndrome; Board of Health; reportable disease list. Directs the Board of Health to adopt regulations to include alpha-gal syndrome on the list of diseases that shall be required to be reported in accordance with the Code of Virginia. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; reimbursement rates for Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers withDisabilities; work group; report. Directs the Department of MedicalAssistance Services to convene a work group of relevant stakeholdersto assess and make recommendations related to reimbursement ratesfor the federal Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlerswith Disabilities. The bill requires the work group to report itsrecommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health,Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education andHealth by November 1, 2024.

Summary: Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Centers;licensure; regulation. Authorizes the Board of Health to license prescribed pediatric extended care centers. The bill establishesthe scope of services offered by such centers and requirements foroperation, management, staffing, facilities, and maintenance anddirects the Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisionsof the bill.

Summary: Sickle cell disease; statewide registry; collectionof sickle cell disease case information; penalties; notification;annual report. Creates a statewide registry of sickle cell diseasepatients to be maintained by the State Health Commissioner. The billestablishes: (i) standards and selection criteria for the collectionof sickle cell disease information; (ii) penalties for unauthorizeduse of data from such registry; and (iii) notice requirements forpatients whose personal identifying information has been submittedto such registry. The bill allows patients diagnosed with sicklecell disease to self-report information to the sickle cell diseaseregistry. Under the bill, a patient has the right to opt out of havinghis information reported to the statewide sickle cell disease registry.The bill also directs the Commissioner to submit an annual reportof the information obtained from the sickle cell disease registryto the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1 of each year.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; lien for claim of personal injuries. Creates a process by which a lien in favor of the Department of Medical Assistance Services on a claim for personal injuries may be satisfied upon the request of the injured person who received medical care or services to treat such personal injury. The bill provides that the Department is required within 60 days of receipt of the request of the injured person to provide such injured person or his personal representative with an itemized statement detailing all health care expenses paid for by a program of the Department and a sum specific demand for payment in full and final resolution of the Department's lien. Such request shall not be made by the injured person or his personal representative until all claims for health care expenses to be paid for by a program of the Department for an alleged injury on which the claim is based have been submitted to and processed for potential payment by the Department. The bill provides that if the Department fails to respond to such request, the injured party or his personal representative may submit to the Department an offer of payment for a sum certain in satisfaction of the lien, including an explanation of the reasons for such offer, and the Department may then, within 30 days, accept or reject such offer. The bill also clarifies that such process is not the exclusive means by which an injured person or his personal representative may request such itemized statement of health care expenses. Under the bill, the Department shall report on a quarterly basis those offers of the payment for a sum certain in satisfaction of liens to which it does not respond to the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and the House Committee on Appropriations.

Summary: Commonwealth Health Reinsurance Program; payment parameters. Requires the State Corporation Commission, in settingthe payment parameters for the upcoming benefits year, to set suchpayment parameters at levels designed to achieve the premium reductiontarget established in the general appropriation act or, if such targetis not established in the general appropriation act, the premiumreduction target of the previous benefit year.

Summary: Chief Medical Examiner; Maternal Mortality Review Team; work group; expansion plan; report. Directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Maternal Mortality Review Team to convene a work group to expand the work of the Maternal Mortality Review Team. The bill directs the work group to develop criteria and procedures related to the collection of maternal morbidity data. The bill specifies that the Maternal Mortality Review Team's expansion plan shall include certain plans for data collection, data review, and development and implementation of policies and recommendations. The work group is required to report its findings and provide its plan to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health by July 1, 2026.

Summary: Comprehensive children's health care coverage program. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to establish a program to provide state-funded comprehensive health care coverage for individuals in the Commonwealth who (i) are under 19 years of age, (ii) are not covered under a group health plan or health insurance coverage, and (iii) but for their immigration status would be eligible for medical assistance services through the Commonwealth's program of medical assistance services established pursuant to Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act. The bill also requires the Department to ensure that all program information is made available in a manner that is accessible to individuals with limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities through the provision of language access services, including oral interpretation and written translations, free of charge and to ensure that information obtained by the program remains confidential and is not disclosed for any purpose not related to the administration of the program or any purpose related to civil immigration enforcement unless the subject of the information consents to such disclosure or the requesting agency presents a valid judicial order, subpoena, or warrant.The bill also requires the Department to (a) establish a work group composed of individuals with direct and lived experience with the program eligibility criteria established by the bill and individuals with experience conducting outreach to individuals who are eligible for the program established by the bill to advise and assist the Department in carrying out marketing and outreach activities required by the bill and (b) seek all federal waivers and other approvals necessary to maximize federal financial participation in the cost of carrying out the program established by the bill.

Summary: State plan for medical assistance services;adult hearing screenings; audiological examinations; hearing aids.Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the stateplan for medical assistance services to include a provision for paymentof medical assistance for all medically necessary (i) adult hearingscreenings; (ii) audiological examinations; (iii) initial purchasesor replacements of hearing aids, up to $1,500 per year; and (iv)hearing aid batteries, up to 60 batteries per year.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; establishmentof neurobehavioral science unit; waiver services for individualswith traumatic brain injury and neurocognitive diagnoses; work group.Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek authoritythrough the state plan for medical assistance services to implementa neurobehavioral science unit and to submit an amendment to thestate plan for medical assistance services to the Centers for Medicareand Medicaid Services to receive federal approval to administer neurorestorative and rehabilitative services for qualifying individualswith traumatic brain injury and neurocognitive diagnoses. The billauthorizes the Department to promulgate emergency regulations toimplement the neurobehavioral science unit and the traumatic braininjury and neurocognitive diagnoses services waiver upon approvaland directs the Department to convene a work group of relevant stakeholdersto provide updates on the progress and the implementation of theneurobehavioral science unit and the traumatic brain injury and neurocognitivediagnoses services waiver.

Summary: Department of Medical Assistance Services; Medicaid eligibility; asset limits. Directs the Department of MedicalAssistance Services to (i) submit an amendment to the state planfor medical assistance services to remove or lower any asset limitsrelated to Medicaid eligibility and (ii) to the extent permittedunder federal laws and regulations, remove or lower any asset capsthat may be removed or lowered without an amendment to the stateplan.

Summary: Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund; established.Establishes the Virginia Health Workforce Innovation Fund tobe administered by the Board of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority. The Board shall use the Fund to provide grants to facilitate regional collaboration on health care innovation and workforce developmentand, in particular, the formation of regional, employer-led partnershipsthat prioritize workforce growth and training. The bill provides for the formation across the Commonwealth of regional councils, definedin the bill, consisting of representatives from the government, health care, and education sectors. Under the bill, regional councils maysubmit applications for collaborative projects in their regions thatenhance private-sector growth, competitiveness, and workforce development.A portion of the grant funds will be awarded on a population basisand a portion on a competitive basis.

Summary: Kinship foster care; alternative living arrangements; Parental Child Safety Placement Program established. Establishes the Parental Child Safety Placement Program to promote and support placements of children with relatives by local boards of social services in order to avoid foster care. The bill establishes the requirements for a parental child safety placement agreement, the procedure for assessing a proposed caregiver, and the process for terminating the placement. This bill is identical to SB 39.

Summary: State Board of Social Services; regulations;application for and use of foster care benefits. Directs theState Board of Social Services to amend its regulations by January1, 2025, to (i) require local departments of social services to applyfor federal benefits on behalf of children in foster care that they may be eligible for, (ii) prohibit the use of federal benefits topay for the care and support of children in foster care that theCommonwealth is otherwise obligated to pay for, and (iii) requirelocal departments of social services that are representative payeesfor children in foster care to conserve such federal benefits in an appropriate trust instrument or protected account that is exemptfrom federal asset and resource limits.

Summary: Home Visiting Program established; report. Establishes the Home Visiting Program within the Department of Social Services to support pregnant people and parents with young children who face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes. The bill directs the Department to operate in accordance with the Virginia Plan for Home Visiting established by Early Impact Virginia, a consortium of government and private entities. The purpose of the Program is to (i) promote the health and well-being of pregnant people and parents, (ii) improve infant and child health and development, (iii) strengthen family functioning, (iv) promote school readiness, (v) reduce child maltreatment, (vi) promote economic mobility, and (vii) cultivate strong communities. The bill requires the Department to report biennially to the Governor and the General Assembly on outcomes for Program participants.

Summary: Community services boards; core of services. Adds to the list of the core services to be provided by community services boards (i) crisis services for individuals with a mental illness or substance use disorder, (ii) outpatient mental health and substance abuse services, (iii) psychiatric rehabilitation services, (iv) peer support and family support services, (v) mental health services for members of the armed forces located 50 miles or more from a military treatment facility and veterans located 40 miles or more from a Veterans Health Administration medical facility, and (vi) care coordination services. The bill removes language that conditions the duty of community services boards to provide case management services on the availability of funding. The bill further requires community services boards to provide any such services (a) to every adult who has a serious mental illness, child who has or is at risk of serious emotional disturbance, and individual who has a substance use disorder and (b) in a timely manner and at a location that is near the individual. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026, for most provisions.

Summary: Fostering Futures program; eligibility; agelimit. Increases from 21 to 23 the age at which an individualmay no longer participate in the Fostering Futures program.

Summary: Social services; Dynamic Benefit AdjustmentSystem. Establishes a Dynamic Benefit Adjustment System thatgradually reduces public assistance benefits in response to beneficiaries'earned income. The bill requires the Department of Social Servicesto establish the formula for the system, collect and analyze dataon the System, and make regular reports on the System's performanceto the General Assembly.

Summary: State plan for medical assistance services; violence prevention services benefit; work group. Directs the Board of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for violence prevention services, defined in the bill, provided by a qualified violence prevention professional to an individual who receives medical treatment for an injury sustained as a result of community violence, defined in the bill, who is determined by a health care provider to be at risk of repeat injury or retaliation. The bill directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to convene a work group to advise the Board on the design and implementation of the violence prevention services benefit and specifies that the work group include representatives from the Department and violence intervention programs, medical providers, survivors of community violence, and other members as deemed appropriate by the Department. The bill requires the Department to post on its website the date upon which violence prevention services may be provided and billed pursuant to the provisions of the bill.

Summary: Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; protocol; information; training. Requires the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to take certain actions upon the finding that an individual died from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), defined in the bill. The bill directs the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to publish information on SUDEP and a SUDEP death investigation form on its website. Additionally, the bill requires the Chief Medical Examiner and local medical examiners to complete training in the investigation of SUDEP on a triennial basis. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025.