§16-2J-1. Legislative findings and statement of purpose.
(a) The Legislature finds that a program that would allow health clinics and private medical practitioners to provide primary and preventive health services for a prepaid fee would enable more West Virginians to gain access to affordable health care and to establish a medical home for purposes of receiving primary and preventative healthcare services. By establishing a pilot project for clinic-based health care, the Legislature intends to enable state health and insurance officials to study this method of delivering health services, to encourage all West Virginians to establish a medical home and to determine the success, continued need and feasibility of expanding such a program and allowing similar programs to operate on a statewide basis.

(b) In carrying out this pilot program, it is the intent of the Legislature to eliminate legal, statutory and regulatory barriers to the establishment of pilot programs providing preventive and primary care services for a prepaid fee; to encourage residents of this state to establish and use a medical home; to expand preventive and primary care services for the uninsured; and to exempt health providers participating in the pilot program from regulation as an insurer, the operation of insurance laws of the state and all other laws inconsistent with the purposes of this article.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session