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Enrolled Version - Final Version Senate Bill 669 History

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ENROLLED


Senate Bill No. 669

(By Senators Kessler, Yost, Stollings, Unger and Wells)

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[Passed April 9, 2009; in effect ninety days from passage.]

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AN ACT to amend and reenact §16-2J-3 and §16-2J-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to extending the Preventative Care Pilot Program (PCPP) for two years under certain conditions; increasing the number of parties the Health Care Authority and the Insurance Commissioner could permit to participate in the PCPP; and allowing sales to those with high deductible health benefit plans in certain circumstances and providing notice to the parties that prepaid services under the program may not count towards applicable health insurance deductibles.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §16-2J-3 and §16-2J-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2J. PREVENTATIVE CARE PILOT PROGRAM.

§16-2J-3. Authorization of preventive care pilot program; number of participants and sites; Health Care Authority considerations in selection of participating providers; funding.

(a) The Health Care Authority shall, in consultation with the Insurance Commissioner, develop and implement during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, a pilot program that permits providers to market and sell prepaid memberships entitling subscribers to obtain preventive and primary health care from the participating providers. Participating providers shall not be allowed to offer their qualifying services at more than six separate sites. The pilot program shall expire on June 30, 2011.
(b) Subject to this article, the Health Care Authority is vested with discretion to select providers using diversity in practice organization, geographical diversity and other criteria it deems appropriate. The Health Care Authority also shall give consideration to providers located in rural areas or serving a high percentage or large numbers of uninsured.
(c) In furtherance of the objectives of this article, the Health Care Authority is authorized to accept any and all gifts, grants and matching funds whether in the form of money or services. However, no gifts, grants and matching funds shall be provided to the Health Care Authority by the State of West Virginia to further the objectives of this article.
§16-2J-7. Participating provider plan requirements; primary care services; prior coverage restrictions; notice of discontinuance or reduction of benefits.

In addition to this article and any guidelines established by the Health Care Authority and Insurance Commissioner, the plans offered pursuant to this article shall be subject to the following:
(1) Each participating provider and site must offer a minimum set of preventive and primary care services as established by the Health Care Authority.
(2) No participating provider may offer: (i) An individual plan to any individual who currently has a health benefit plan or who was covered by a health benefit plan within the preceding twelve months unless said coverage was lost due to a qualifying event; (ii) a family plan to any family that includes an adult to be covered who currently has a health benefit plan or who was covered by a health benefit plan within the preceding twelve months unless said coverage was lost due to a qualifying event; or (iii) an employee group plan to any employer that currently has a group health benefit plan or had a group health benefit plan covering its employees within the preceding twelve months;
(iv) Notwithstanding the provisions of (i),(ii) or (iii) of this subsection, a participating provider may offer a plan to an individual if the individual is covered by a high deductible health benefit plan or policy and a participating provider may offer a plan to an employer group if the employer group is covered by a high deductible health benefit plan or policy. The participating provider shall give the perspective individual or employer a notice that indicates that the payment for the prepaid services may not count towards a health benefit plan deductible and that credit towards the deductible will depend on the health benefit policy or certificate language. The Insurance Commissioner shall approve the form of the notice to be used by the provider. For the purpose of this section, "high deductible health benefit plan" means a health benefit plan with a minimum individual annual deductible of $3,000 or, if applicable, a family annual deductible of $3,000. Any employer who has converted its health benefit plan from a low deductible plan to a high deductible health benefits plan may not purchase a plan from a participating provider for six months from the date of conversion. Any individual who has converted his or her health benefit policy from a low deductible health policy to a high deductible plan may not purchase a plan from a participating provider for three months from date of conversion.
(3)
On or before July 1, 2009, the Health Care Authority and the Insurance Commissioner shall propose a rule for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to permit participation by a subscriber or employer with a comprehensive high deductible plan if the subscriber or employer is able to demonstrate that the participation will not negatively impact the coverage that is currently offered or will be offered by the employer. The rule shall provide for notice to the subscriber or employer that the payment for the prepaid services may or may not count towards the health insurance deductible, the determination of which will depend on the health insurance policy language.
(4) A participating provider must provide subscribers and, where applicable, subscribers' employers with a minimum of thirty days' notice of discontinuance or reduction of subscriber benefits.

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