Bill Amendment: WV SB601 | 2024 | Regular Session
Bill Title: Creating WV Women's Bill of Rights
Status: 2024-03-08 - On 3rd reading with right to amend, Special Calendar [SB601 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2024-SB601-sb601_hfa_young_et_al_3-9.html
SB601 HFA Young et al 3-9
Delegates Young, Hamilton, Hornbuckle, Fluharty, Garcia, Griffith, Pushkin, Hansen, Lewis, Rowe and Williams move to amend Com Sub for HB 601l on page 1, following the enacting clause, by striking out the remainder of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof, the following:
"PREAMBLE: This Act shall be known as the "Women's Bill of Rights"
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-9v. Exempting certain hygiene products from sales tax.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, feminine hygiene products are exempt from the tax imposed under this article.
(b) For the purposes of this section "Feminine hygiene product" includes sanitary napkins, tampons, pads, and other similar feminine hygiene products.
CHAPTER 15A. Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.
ARTICLE 4. CORRECTIONS MANAGEMENT.
§15A-4-13. Charges assessed against inmates for services provided by state.
(a) The commissioner is authorized to assess inmates serving a sentence in any state jail, penal, or correctional facility reasonable charges for health care and treatment services provided to them by the state. The charges assessed against an inmate may be deducted directly from the inmate’s trustee account without the inmate’s consent. The inmate shall be notified of the amount deducted and the charges to which it has been applied.
(b) As used in this section, a "reasonable charge" may not exceed the sum of $25 for any billable service. Inmates shall be notified of the fee schedule, billable services, and exempt services. Services initiated by the inmate shall be assessed a fee, except that no charge may be assessed for: (1) a specific health care service required under the law of this state, including, by way of illustration, tuberculin testing; (2) an emergency service following a traumatic injury other than a self-induced injury, or necessary to prevent death or severe or permanent disability; (3) diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases, including, by way of illustration, tuberculosis or hepatitis; (4) treatment of diagnosed severe mental illness; (5) treatment of specific chronic conditions identified by the commissioner, including, by way of illustration, heart disease and diabetes; (6) staff-initiated care, including follow-up and referral visits; (7) preventive services that the commissioner determines are to be provided or made available to all inmates, including services related to disease prevention and promotion of proper health habits; or (8) other services as may be exempted by rule of the commissioner. No inmate may be denied any necessary billable medical service because of inability to pay the charge.
(c) Any inmate who intentionally ingests, inhales, injects, absorbs, applies, or otherwise exposes himself or herself to, in any manner whatsoever not otherwise specified herein, an illegal drug, a drug not legally prescribed to him or her, a drug in quantities above that recommended by a prescribing physician, a synthetic intoxicant, or any substance for the purpose of causing an excited, euphoric, or stupefied state, or altered perception, including hallucinations or delusions, and the inmate requires medical treatment due to the ingestion, inhalation, injection, absorption, application, or exposure shall reimburse the cost of the medical treatment to the division.
(d) Each inmate shall be afforded an opportunity at least quarterly to review all deposits into, withdrawals from, and balance remaining in the inmate’s trustee account during the preceding three months.
(e) Female inmates shall be provided, at no cost, with their choice of feminine hygiene products as soon as practicable upon request but, in any case, no longer than eight hours later. For the purposes of this subsection "feminine hygiene products" means tampons and sanitary napkins for use in connection with the menstrual cycle.
(e) (f) The commissioner shall promulgate interpretive rules implementing this section pursuant to §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code prior to making any assessment under this section. The policy directive rules may establish the fee schedule and list of billable services and further define services to be exempted.
Article 4G. dignity in pregnancy aCT.
§16-4G-1. Dignity in Pregnancy Act named.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Dignity in Pregnancy Act."
§§16-4G-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(1) "Health care professional" means a physician or other health care practitioner licensed, accredited, or certified to perform specified physical, mental, or behavioral health care services consistent with his or her scope of practice under the laws of this state.
(2) "Implicit bias" means a bias in judgment or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes, including implicit prejudice and implicit stereotypes that often operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional control.
(3) "Implicit prejudice" means prejudicial negative feelings or beliefs about a group that a person holds without being aware of them.
(4) "Implicit stereotypes" means the unconscious attributions of particular qualities to a member of a certain social group. Implicit stereotypes are influenced by experience and are based on learned associations between various qualities and social categories, including race or gender.
(5) "Perinatal care" means the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum and neonatal periods.
(6) "Perinatal facility" means a hospital, clinic, or birthing center that provides perinatal care.
(7) "Pregnancy related death" means the death of a person while pregnant or within 365 days of the end of a pregnancy, irrespective of the duration or site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to, or aggravated by, the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.
§16-4G-3. Implicit bias training.
(a) Every perinatal facility in this state shall implement an evidence based implicit bias program for all health care professionals involved in the perinatal care of patients within such facility.
(b) An implicit bias program implemented pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall include the following:
(1) Identification of previous or current unconscious biases and misinformation;
(2) Identification of personal, interpersonal, institutional, structural, and cultural barriers to inclusion;
(3) Corrective measures to decrease implicit bias at the interpersonal and institutional levels, including ongoing policies and practices for that purpose;
(4) Information on the effects, including, but not limited to, ongoing personal effects, of historical and contemporary exclusion and oppression of minority communities;
(5) Information about cultural identity across racial or ethnic groups;
(6) Information about communicating more effectively across identities, including racial, ethnic, religious, and gender identities;
(7) Discussion on power dynamics and organizational decision-making;
(8) Discussion on health inequities within the perinatal care field, including information on how implicit bias impacts maternal and infant health outcomes;
(9) Perspectives of diverse, local constituency groups and experts on particular racial, identity, cultural, and provider-community relations issues in the community; and
(10) Information on reproductive justice.
(c)(1) A health care professional shall complete initial basic training through the implicit bias program based on the components described in subsection (b) of this section.
(2) Upon completion of the initial basic training, a health care professional shall complete a refresher course under the implicit bias program every two years thereafter, or on a more frequent basis if deemed necessary by the perinatal facility, in order to keep current with changing racial, identity, and cultural trends and best practices in decreasing interpersonal and institutional implicit bias.
(d) Each perinatal facility in this state shall provide a certificate of training completion to another perinatal facility or a training attendee upon request. A perinatal facility may accept a certificate of completion from another perinatal facility to satisfy the training requirement contained in this code section from a health care professional who works in more than one perinatal facility.
(e) If a health care professional involved in the perinatal care of patients is not directly employed by a perinatal facility, the facility shall offer the training to such health care professional.
§16-4G-4. Data collection and reporting.
(a)(1) The Department of Human Services shall collect and track data on severe maternal morbidity, including, but not limited to, all of the following health conditions:
(A) Obstetric hemorrhage;
(B) Hypertension;
(C) Preeclampsia and eclampsia;
(D) Venous thromboembolism;
(E) Sepsis;
(F) Cerebrovascular accident; and
(G) Amniotic fluid embolism.
(2) The data on severe maternal morbidity collected pursuant to this subsection shall be published at least once every three years, after all of the following have occurred:
(A) The data has been aggregated by state regions, as defined by the department, to ensure data reflects how regionalized care systems are or should be collaborating to improve maternal health outcomes, or other smaller regional sorting based on standard statistical methods for accurate dissemination of public health data without risking a confidentiality or other disclosure breach; and
(B) The data has been disaggregated by racial and ethnic identity.
(b)(1) The department shall collect and track data on pregnancy related deaths, including, but not limited to, all of the conditions listed in subsection (a) of this code section, indirect obstetric deaths, and other maternal disorders predominantly related to pregnancy and complications predominantly related to the postpartum period.
(2) The data on pregnancy related deaths collected pursuant to this subsection shall be published, at least once every three years, after all of the following have occurred:
(A) The data has been aggregated by state regions, as defined by the department, to ensure data reflects how regionalized care systems are or should be collaborating to improve maternal health outcomes, or other smaller regional sorting based on standard statistical methods for accurate dissemination of public health data without risking a confidentiality or other disclosure breach; and
(B) The data has been disaggregated by racial and ethnic identity.
ARTICLE 67. HEALTH CARE FREEDOM.
§16-67-1. Health care freedom preserved
Every person who is an adult, regardless of sex, has a right to make and carry out one's own health care decisions.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-52. Free feminine hygiene products for female students.
County boards of education in this state shall provide female students access to feminine hygiene products in all public schools.
chapter 21. labor
ARTICLE 5D. THE PARENTAL LEAVE ACT.
§21-5D-4. Family leave.
(a) An employee shall be is entitled to a total of 8 weeks of paid family leave and twelve four weeks of unpaid family leave, following the exhaustion of all his or her annual and personal leave, during any twelve-month period:
(1) Because of the birth of a son or daughter of the employee;
(2) Because of the placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption; or
(3) In order to care for the employee's son, daughter, spouse, parent or dependent who has a serious health condition.
(b) In the case of a son, daughter, spouse, parent or dependent who has a serious health condition, such family leave may be taken intermittently when medically necessary.
(c) An employee may take family leave on a part-time basis and on a part-time leave schedule, but the period during which the number of work weeks of leave may be taken may not exceed twelve consecutive months, and such leave shall be scheduled so as not to disrupt unduly the operations of the employer.
(d) (1) If a leave because of birth or adoption is foreseeable, the employee shall provide the employer with two weeks written notice of such expected birth or adoption.
(2) If a leave under this section is foreseeable because of planned medical treatment or supervision, the employee:
(A) Shall make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment or supervision so as not to disrupt unduly the operations of the employer, subject to the approval of the health care provider of the employee's son, daughter, parent or dependent; and
(B) Shall provide the employer with two weeks written notice of the treatment or supervision.
(e) This article shall not be construed as granting an employee the family leave rights provided in this section if he or she is entitled to such family leave rights under any other provision of this code.
ARTICLE 5G. katherine Johnson and dorothy vaughan fair pay act
§21-5J-1. Title of article.
This article may be referred to as the Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan Fair Pay Act to honor and memorialize the contributions of these women with ties to West Virginia who were significant characters in the book and movie "Hidden Figures." Both women contributed to our country’s efforts to explore space and land a person on the moon, and both suffered substantial pay discrimination. This Act is intended to allow employees a means of discovering whether they are receiving fair pay.
§21-5J-2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article:
(1) "Employee" means any person suffered or permitted to work by a person, firm, or corporation; and
(2) "Employer" means any person, firm, or corporation employing any employee.
§21-5J-3. Range of wages, benefits, and other compensation to be provided.
(a) On request, an employer shall provide to an applicant for employment the range of wages, benefits, and other compensation to be provided for the position for which the applicant applied.
(b) An employer may not retaliate against or refuse to interview, hire, or employ an applicant for employment because the applicant:
(1) Did not provide a history of wages, benefits, or other compensation earned in previous employment; or
(2) Requested the range of wages, benefits, and other compensation in accordance with this section for the position for which the applicant applied.
(c) An employer may not inquire of the applicant about past wages, benefits, or other compensation without complying with the provisions contained in subsection (d) of this section.
(d) After an employer makes an initial offer of employment with an offer of compensation to an applicant for employment, an employer may:
(1) Rely on the wage history voluntarily provided by the applicant for employment to support a wage offer higher than the initial wage offered by the employer: or
(2) Seek to confirm the wage history voluntarily provided by the applicant for employment to support a wage offer higher than the initial wage offered by the employer.
(e) This section does not prohibit an applicant for employment from sharing wage history with an employer voluntarily.
§21-5J-4. Pay Transparency.
(a) An employee may:
(1) Inquire about the wages, benefits, or other compensation of another employee;
(2) Disclose, discuss, or share information or refuse to disclose, discuss, or share information about the amount of the employee’s own wages, benefits, or other compensation;
(3) Discuss another employee’s wages if those wages have been disclosed voluntarily; and
(4) Aid or encourage another employee’s exercise of rights under this section.
(b) An employer may not:
(1) Prohibit an employee from inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the wages of the employee or another employee;
(2) Require an employee to sign a waiver or any other document that purports to deny the employee the right to disclose or discuss the employee’s wages, benefits, or other compensation; or
(3) Take any adverse employment action against an employee for exercising rights afforded by this section.
(c) Nothing in this section may be construed to permit an employee, without the written consent of an employer, to disclose proprietary information, trade secret information, or information that is otherwise subject to a legal privilege or protected by law; or permit an employee to disclose wage information to a competitor of the employer.
§21-5J-5. Remedies.
Any person injured as a result of any violation or threatened violation of this article shall have a cause of action, and, if proven in a court of competent jurisdiction, may be entitled to the following relief against a person or persons violating or threatening to violate this article:
(1) Compensatory damages;
(2) Costs and reasonable attorney fees, which shall be awarded if the injured person substantially prevails;
(3) Punitive damages in accordance with the provisions of section §55-7-29 of this code;
(4) Preliminary and permanent injunctive relief; and
(5) Any other appropriate equitable relief.
CHAPTER 28. STATE CORRECTIONAL AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS.
ARTICLE 5C. IMPRISONMENT OF FEMALE FELONS.
§28-5C-3. Feminine hygiene products to be provided.
(a) For the purposes of this section "feminine hygiene products" means tampons and sanitary napkins for use in connection with the menstrual cycle.
(b) Female inmates shall be provided, at no cost, with their choice of feminine hygiene products as soon as practicable upon request but, in any case, within 8 hours of the request.
Chapter 33. insurance.
ARTICLE 15F. ACCESS TO FERTILITY CARE.
§33-15F-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article:
"Commissioner" means the Insurance Commissioner.
"Experimental infertility procedure" means a procedure for which the published medical evidence regarding risks, benefits, and overall safety and efficacy is not sufficient to regard the procedure as an established medical practice.
"Fertility treatment" means health care services or products provided with the intent to achieve a pregnancy that results in a live birth with healthy outcomes.
"Health carrier" means an entity subject to the insurance laws and rules of this state, or subject to the jurisdiction of the commissioner, that contracts or offers to contract to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for, or reimburse any of the costs of health care services, including an insurance company, a health maintenance organization, a health service corporation, or any other entity providing a plan of health insurance, health benefits, or health services.
"Infertility" means a disease, caused by an illness, injury, underlying disease, or condition, where an individual’s ability to become pregnant or to carry a pregnancy to live birth is impaired, or where an individual’s ability to cause pregnancy and live birth in the individual’s partner is impaired.
"Medically necessary" means health care services or products provided to an enrollee for the purpose of preventing, stabilizing, diagnosing, or treating an illness, injury, or disease or the symptoms of an illness, injury, or disease in a manner that is:
(A) Consistent with generally accepted standards of medical practice;
(B) Clinically appropriate in terms of type, frequency, extent, site, and duration;
(C) Demonstrated through scientific evidence to be effective in improving health outcomes;
(D) Representative of "best practices" in the medical profession; and
(E) Not primarily for the convenience of the enrollee or physician or other health care provider.
"Standard fertility preservation services" means procedures consistent with established medical practices and professional guidelines published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine or the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
§33-15F-2. Diagnosis of infertility, fertility treatment, and fertility preservation.
(a) Each health carrier that issues or renews any group policy, plan, or contract of accident or health insurance providing benefits for medical or hospital expenses, shall provide to certificate holders of such insurance coverage for the diagnosis of the etiology of infertility.
(b) Each health carrier that issues or renews any group policy, plan, or contract of accident or health insurance providing benefits for medical or hospital expenses, shall provide to certificate holders of such insurance coverage for medically necessary fertility treatment. Enrollees shall be provided coverage for evaluations, laboratory assessments, medications, and treatments associated with the procurement of donor eggs, sperm, and embryos.
(c) Each health carrier that issues or renews any group policy, plan, or contract of accident or health insurance providing benefits for medical or hospital expenses, shall provide to certificate holders of such insurance coverage for fertility preservation when a person is expected to undergo surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other medical treatment that is recognized by medical professionals to cause a risk of impairment of fertility. Coverage under this section shall include coverage for standard fertility preservation services, including the procurement and cryopreservation of embryos, eggs, sperm, and reproductive material determined not to be an experimental infertility procedure. Storage shall be covered from the time of cryopreservation for the duration of the policy term. Storage offered for a longer period of time, as approved by the health carrier, shall be an optional benefit.
§33-15F-3. Prohibited and permissible limitations on coverage.
(a) No health carrier shall:
(1) Impose deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, benefit maximums, waiting periods, or any other limitations on coverage for required benefits which are different from those imposed upon benefits for services not related to infertility or any limitations on coverage of fertility medications that are different from those imposed on any other prescription medications.
(2) Impose preexisting condition exclusions or preexisting condition waiting periods on coverage for required benefits or use any prior diagnosis of or prior treatment for infertility as a basis for excluding, limiting, or otherwise restricting the availability of coverage for required benefits.
(3) Impose limitations on coverage based solely on arbitrary factors including, but not limited to, number of attempts or dollar amounts or age, or provide different benefits to, or impose different requirements required of other patients.
(b) Limitations on coverage shall be based on clinical guidelines and the enrollee’s medical history. Clinical guidelines shall be maintained in written form and shall be available to any enrollee upon request. Standards or guidelines developed by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, or the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology may serve as a basis for these clinical guidelines. Making, issuing, circulating, or causing to be made, issued or circulated, any clinical guidelines that are based upon data that are not reasonably current or that do not cite with specificity any references relied upon shall constitute an unfair and deceptive act and practice in the business of insurance.
(c) This article may not be construed to provide benefits for:
(1) An experimental infertility procedure;
(2) Nonmedical costs related to third party reproduction; or
(3) Reversal of voluntary sterilization.
(d) In instances where an enrollee is utilizing a surrogate or gestational carrier due to a medical cause of infertility unrelated to voluntary sterilization or failed reversal, the enrollee’s coverage shall not extend to medical costs relating to the preparation for reception or introduction of embryos, oocytes, or donor sperm into a surrogate or gestational carrier.
§33-15F-4. Rule-making.
The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to implement this article. Until such rules are adopted, health carriers shall fulfill their obligations under this article by conforming to the standards of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
CHAPTER 49. CHILD WELFARE.
ARTICLE 2. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CHILDREN.
§49-2-906. Medical and other treatment of juveniles in custody of the division; consent; service providers; medical care; pregnant inmates; claims processing and administration by the department; authorization of cooperative agreements.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the director, or his or her designee, is hereby authorized to consent to the medical or other treatment of any juvenile in the legal or physical custody of the director or the division.
(b) In providing or arranging for the necessary medical and other care and treatment of juveniles committed to the division’s custody, the director shall use service providers who provide the same or similar services to juveniles under existing contracts with the Department of Health and Human Resources. In order to obtain the most advantageous reimbursement rates, to capitalize on an economy of scale and to avoid duplicative systems and procedures, the department shall administer and process all claims for medical or other treatment of juveniles committed to the division’s custody.
(c) In providing or arranging for the necessary medical and other care and treatment of juveniles committed to the division’s custody, the director shall assure that pregnant inmates will not be restrained after reaching the second trimester of pregnancy until the end of the pregnancy. However, if the inmate, based upon her classification, discipline history or other factors deemed relevant by the director poses a threat of escape, or to the safety of herself, the public, staff, or the unborn child, the inmate may be restrained in a manner reasonably necessary. Additionally, that prior to directing the application of restraints and where there is no threat to the safety of the inmate, the public, staff or the fetus, the director or designee shall consult with an appropriate health care professional to assure that the manner of restraint will not pose an unreasonable risk of harm to the inmate or the fetus.
(d) Female juveniles committed to the division’s custody shall be provided, at no cost, with their choice of feminine hygiene products as soon as practicable upon request but, in any case, no longer than eight hours later. For the purposes of this subsection "feminine hygiene products" means tampons and sanitary napkins for use in connection with the menstrual cycle.
(d) (e) For purposes of implementing the mandates of this section, the director is hereby authorized and directed to enter into any necessary agreements with the Department of Health and Human Resources. An agreement will include, at a minimum, for the direct and incidental costs associated with that care and treatment to be paid by the Division of Juvenile Services."
