WEST virginia legislature

2020 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

Senate Bill 288

Senator Tarr

[Originating in the Select Committee on Children and Families; reported on February 10, 2020]

A BILL to amend and reenact §16-2B-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to family planning and child spacing; extending family planning resources provided by Bureau for Public Health to other entities; providing that Bureau for Medical Services shall not require multiple office visits for women who select long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods unless medically necessary; requiring Bureau for Medical Services to provide payment for LARC devices and services; authorizing Bureau for Public Health to make LARC products available in practitioner offices without upfront practitioner costs; requiring Bureau for Public Health to develop statewide plan and providing requirements for plan; and requiring annual report by Department of Health and Human Resources.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 2B. FAMILY PLANNING AND CHILD SPACING.

§16-2B-1. Family planning and child spacing; authorized functions; funds.

(a) The State Department of Health is authorized to Bureau for Public Health may provide printed material, guidance, advice, financial assistance, appliances, devices, drugs, approved methods, and medicines to local boards of health and other entities requesting the same for use in the operation of family planning and child spacing clinics to the extent of funds appropriated by the Legislature and any federal funds made available for such purpose.

(b) The Bureau for Medical Services shall not require multiple office visits for a woman who selects long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods unless medically necessary.  The bureau shall provide payment for LARC devices and their insertion, maintenance, removal, and replacement.

(c) The Bureau for Public Health may make LARC products available in practitioner offices without upfront practitioner costs.

(d) The Bureau for Public Health shall develop a statewide plan with the goal of reducing exposure of unborn children to illicit substances by increasing the number of clients served and enabling access to LARC and other family planning methods. The plan shall include strategies for increasing LARC accessibility and training of health care providers, and shall provide a fiscal analysis of plan implementation and potential impact.

(e) The Department of Health and Human Resources shall report annually to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability. The report shall include, at a minimum, the number of LARC treatments provided and the number of children born with intrauterine substance exposure and neonatal abstinence syndrome in West Virginia during the past three years.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand access to long-acting reversible contraceptives and thereby reduce exposure of unborn children to illicit substances.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.