ENROLLED

H. B. 2612


(By Delegates P. White and Gallagher)

[Passed April 10, 1993; in effect from passage]



AN ACT to amend and reenact sections four and five, article twenty-nine-c, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to changing the termination date of the task force on uncompensated health care and medicaid expenditures and deleting obsolete language.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections four and five, article twenty-nine-c, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29C. INDIGENT CARE.

§16-29C-4. Legislative study; appointment of members; expenses; reports; termination.

Not later than the first day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five, the president of the Senate and speaker of the House of Delegates of the West Virginia Legislature shall appoint a legislative task force on uncompensated health care and medicaid expenditures which shall meet, study and make recommendations as herein provided.
The task force shall be composed of three members of theSenate appointed by the president from the membership of the Senate standing committee on health and human resources, three members of the House of Delegates appointed by the speaker from the membership of the House of Delegates standing committee on health and human resources, and a number of citizens appointed jointly by the president and speaker which, in their discretion, adequately provides for the appropriate representation of the interests of the providers of health care services, the providers of health care insurance, state departments involved in the administration of health care and health care related programs and the citizens of this state. Of the members of the Senate appointed by the president, not more than two shall be from the same political party. Of the members of the House of Delegates appointed by the speaker, not more than two shall be from the same political party.
Members originally appointed to the task force shall serve for terms beginning on the date of appointment and ending on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, unless sooner replaced by the president or the speaker as applicable, or, in the discretion of the president and the speaker, unless the work of the task force is completed or the need for the task force no longer exists prior to that date. The task force shall cease to exist on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six.
The task force shall meet on such dates as may be approved by the joint committee on government and finance for the regular meetings of its subcommittees unless approval is first obtained from the joint committee on government and finance for additionalmeetings. The task force shall conduct studies on the amount of funds expended by hospitals and other health care providers of this state for services to persons who are unable to pay for those services and for which they receive no other form of reimbursement, the extent to which persons in this state forego needed medical services because of insufficient income and assets to pay for those services, the extent to which the state is maximizing available federal programs and moneys in providing health care services to the citizens of this state, the operation of the programs and funds created by this article and the roles of the public, private and private nonprofit sectors in providing health care services to the citizens of this state. The task force shall also study the state medicaid program in order to determine if the state medicaid agency, as the payor of last resort, is expending maximum effort to identify alternate private insurance resources for medicaid beneficiaries and shall study the feasibility and financial impact upon the state of assuring increased access to medicaid beneficiaries to primary health care in the nonhospital setting by requiring enrollment in a primary care clinic program, if available, and of the establishment of different and lesser schedules of payment for primary health services delivered by a hospital emergency room as compared to the schedule of payments for emergency room services of a true medical emergency nature.
The task force shall file an interim report with the joint committee on government and finance and the Legislature on the date of the last meeting of the joint committee on government and finance prior to commencement of the regular session of theLegislature in each year before the final report of the task force is filed with the joint committee on government and finance and the Legislature on or before the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six.
The members of the task force shall be entitled to compensation at the rate authorized for members of the Legislature participating in legislative interim meetings and to reimbursement for reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in attending meetings of the task force, except that any employee of the state appointed to the task force is not entitled to such compensation. Funds necessary for the work of the task force shall be paid from joint appropriations to the Senate and House of Delegates but no such funds shall be spent or obligations incurred in the conduct of such work without prior approval of the joint committee on government and finance.
§16-29C-5. Effective date and termination date.

This article shall be effective from passage, and, notwithstanding the provisions of section four of this article, shall terminate on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six.