Bill Text: WV HB2173 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizing insurance to married workers without children at reduced rates under the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Act
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-21 - To House Banking and Insurance [HB2173 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2015-HB2173-Introduced.html
H. B. 2173
(By Delegate Rodighiero)
[Introduced January 21, 2015; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Act; and authorizing insurance to married workers without children at reduced rates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-7. Authorization to establish group hospital and surgical insurance plan, group major medical insurance plan, group prescription drug plan and group life and accidental death insurance plan; rules for administration of plans; mandated benefits; what plans may provide; optional plans; separate rating for claims experience purposes.
(a) The agency shall establish a group hospital and surgical insurance plan or plans, a group prescription drug insurance plan or plans, a group major medical insurance plan or plans and a group life and accidental death insurance plan or plans for those employees herein made eligible, and to establish and promulgate rules for the administration of these plans, subject to the limitations contained in this article. Those plans shall include:
(1) Coverages and benefits for X ray and laboratory services in connection with mammograms when medically appropriate and consistent with current guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Task Force; pap smears, either conventional or liquid-based cytology, whichever is medically appropriate and consistent with the current guidelines from either the United States Preventive Services Task Force or The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and a test for the human papilloma virus (HPV) when medically appropriate and consistent with current guidelines from either the United States Preventive Services Task Force or The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, when performed for cancer screening or diagnostic services on a woman age eighteen or over;
(2) Annual checkups for prostate cancer in men age fifty and over;
(3) Annual screening for kidney disease as determined to be medically necessary by a physician using any combination of blood pressure testing, urine albumin or urine protein testing and serum creatinine testing as recommended by the National Kidney Foundation;
(4) For plans that include maternity benefits, coverage for inpatient care in a duly licensed health care facility for a mother and her newly born infant for the length of time which the attending physician considers medically necessary for the mother or her newly born child: Provided, That no plan may deny payment for a mother or her newborn child prior to forty-eight hours following a vaginal delivery, or prior to ninety-six hours following a caesarean section delivery, if the attending physician considers discharge medically inappropriate;
(5) For plans which provide coverages for post-delivery care to a mother and her newly born child in the home, coverage for inpatient care following childbirth as provided in subdivision (4) of this subsection if inpatient care is determined to be medically necessary by the attending physician. Those plans may also include, among other things, medicines, medical equipment, prosthetic appliances and any other inpatient and outpatient services and expenses considered appropriate and desirable by the agency; and
(6) For plans which provide coverage for each eligible employee who is married but without covered children, at a lesser premium cost than benefits for eligible employees who are married with children; and
(6) (7) Coverage for treatment of serious mental illness.
(A) The coverage does not include custodial care, residential care or schooling. For purposes of this section, "serious mental illness" means an illness included in the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, as periodically revised, under the diagnostic categories or subclassifications of: (i) Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders; (ii) bipolar disorders; (iii) depressive disorders; (iv) substance-related disorders with the exception of caffeine-related disorders and nicotine-related disorders; (v) anxiety disorders; and (vi) anorexia and bulimia. With regard to any covered individual who has not yet attained the age of nineteen years, "serious mental illness" also includes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, separation anxiety disorder and conduct disorder.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section to the contrary, in the event that the agency can demonstrate that its total costs for the treatment of mental illness for any plan exceeded two percent of the total costs for such plan in any experience period, then the agency may apply whatever additional cost-containment measures may be necessary, including, but not limited to, limitations on inpatient and outpatient benefits, to maintain costs below two percent of the total costs for the plan for the next experience period.
(C) The agency shall not discriminate between medical-surgical benefits and mental health benefits in the administration of its plan. With regard to both medical-surgical and mental health benefits, it may make determinations of medical necessity and appropriateness, and it may use recognized health care quality and cost management tools, including, but not limited to, limitations on inpatient and outpatient benefits, utilization review, implementation of cost-containment measures, preauthorization for certain treatments, setting coverage levels, setting maximum number of visits within certain time periods, using capitated benefit arrangements, using fee-for-service arrangements, using third-party administrators, using provider networks and using patient cost sharing in the form of copayments, deductibles and coinsurance.
(7) (8) Coverage for general anesthesia for dental procedures and associated outpatient hospital or ambulatory facility charges provided by appropriately licensed health care individuals in conjunction with dental care if the covered person is:
(A) Seven years of age or younger or is developmentally disabled, and is an individual for whom a successful result cannot be expected from dental care provided under local anesthesia because of a physical, intellectual or other medically compromising condition of the individual and for whom a superior result can be expected from dental care provided under general anesthesia;
(B) A child who is twelve years of age or younger with documented phobias, or with documented mental illness, and with dental needs of such magnitude that treatment should not be delayed or deferred and for whom lack of treatment can be expected to result in infection, loss of teeth or other increased oral or dental morbidity and for whom a successful result cannot be expected from dental care provided under local anesthesia because of such condition and for whom a superior result can be expected from dental care provided under general anesthesia.
(b) The agency shall make available to each eligible employee, at full cost to the employee, the opportunity to purchase optional group life and accidental death insurance as established under the rules of the agency. In addition, each employee is entitled to have his or her spouse and dependents, as defined by the rules of the agency, included in the optional coverage, at full cost to the employee, for each eligible dependent; and with full authorization to the agency to make the optional coverage available and provide an opportunity of purchase to each employee.
(c) The finance board may cause to be separately rated for claims experience purposes:
(1) All employees of the State of West Virginia;
(2) All teaching and professional employees of state public institutions of higher education and county boards of education;
(3) All nonteaching employees of the Higher Education Policy Commission, West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education and county boards of education; or
(4) Any other categorization which would ensure the stability of the overall program.
(d) The agency shall maintain the medical and prescription drug coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees by providing coverage through one of the existing plans or by enrolling the Medicare-eligible retired employees into a Medicare-specific plan, including, but not limited to, the Medicare/Advantage Prescription Drug Plan. In the event that a Medicare-specific plan would no longer be available or advantageous for the agency and the retirees, the retirees shall remain eligible for coverage through the agency.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize insurance to married workers without children at reduced rates under the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Act.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
