H. B. 4509



(By Delegates Douglas, Kuhn, Perdue, Marshall, Ennis, Flanigan and Ellem)


(Originating in the Committee on Government Organization)

[February 15, 2002]



A BILL to amend and reenact sections two and three, article one- a, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to uniform credentialing of health care practitioners; requiring certain health care practitioners to use uniform application forms; continuing the advisory committee; setting terms for members of the advisory committee; requiring the advisory committee to meet annually; and providing that uniform forms and lists of practitioners required to use uniform forms may be set forth in procedural rule.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two and three, article one-a, 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 1A. UNIFORM CREDENTIALING FOR HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS.
§16-1A-2. Development of uniform credentialing application forms.

Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the secretary of the department of health and human resources and the insurance commissioner, on or before the first day of January June, two thousand two, shall jointly propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which set forth uniform application forms for credentialing, recredentialing or updating information and to specify the health care practitioners who may shall utilize the forms.
§16-1A-3. Advisory committee.
(a) The secretary of the department of health and human resources and the insurance commissioner shall jointly establish an advisory committee to assist them in the development and implementation of the uniform credentialing process in this state. The advisory committee shall consist of eleven appointed members. Six members shall be appointed by the secretary of the department of health and human resources: One member shall represent a hospital with one hundred beds or less; one member shall represent a hospital with more than one hundred beds; one member shall represent another type of health care facility requiring credentialing; one member shall be a person currently credentialing on behalf of health care practitioners; and two of the members shall represent the health care practitioners subject to credentialing. Five members shall be representative of the entities regulated by the insurance commissioner that require credentialing and shall be appointed by the insurance commissioner: One member shall represent an indemnity health care insurer; one member shall represent a preferred provider organization; one member shall represent a third party administrator; one member shall represent a health maintenance organization accredited by American accreditation health care commission; and one member shall represent a health maintenance organization accredited by the national committee on quality assurance. The secretary of the department of health and human resources and the insurance commissioner, or the designee of either or both, shall be nonvoting ex officio members.
 (b) Of the members of the advisory committee first appointed, four shall be appointed for a term of one year, four shall be appointed for a term of two years, and three shall be appointed for a term of three years. At the expiration of the initial terms, successors will be appointed to terms of three years. Members may serve an unlimited number of terms. When a vacancy occurs as a result of the expiration of a term or otherwise, a successor of like qualifications shall be appointed.
(c) The advisory committee shall meet at least annually to review the status of uniform credentialing in this state, and may make further recommendations to the secretary of the department of health and human resources and the insurance commissioner as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this article. Any uniform forms and the list of health care practitioners required to use the uniform forms as set forth in legislative rule proposed pursuant to section two of this article may be amended as needed by procedural rule.