Health insurance; coverage for donor human milk, penalties.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify the exact penalties for operating a donor human milk bank without a license beyond stating it is a Class 6 felony.

Health Insurance Coverage for Donor Human Milk

This bill requires health insurance companies to cover expenses related to donor human milk and sets up rules for operating donor human milk banks in Virginia.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Health Commissioner to license anyone who wants to run a donor human milk bank.
• Makes it illegal to operate a donor human milk bank without a license, which is a serious crime.
• Sets rules and procedures for how licensed donor human milk banks should work.
• Tells health insurance companies to cover costs related to providing pasteurized donor human milk to infants under six months old who meet certain criteria.

Who It Names or Affects

• People running or wanting to run donor human milk banks in Virginia
• Health insurance companies and their customers

Terms To Know

Donor Human Milk Bank

A place that collects, tests, processes, stores, and distributes donated breast milk for babies who need it.

Pasteurized Donor Human Milk

Breast milk from a donor mother that has been treated with heat to kill harmful germs before being given to an infant.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill will not take effect until July 1, 2027, or when the State Board of Health sets up rules for licensing milk banks, whichever happens later.
• Insurance companies do not have to cover donor human milk costs in individual or small group markets right away.

Official Summary Text

Donor human milk banks; health insurance; coverage for donor human milk; penalties.
Prohibits any person from establishing or operating a donor human milk bank, as defined in the bill, without first obtaining a license from the State Health Commissioner and makes it a Class 6 felony for any person to establish or operate a donor human milk bank in the Commonwealth without obtaining such license. The bill also establishes requirements, policies, and procedures for the operation and administration of licensed human donor milk banks, including procedures relating to disciplinary actions, application fees, and inspections and interviews related to such donor human milk banks. The bill directs (i) the State Board of Health to establish a regulatory and statutory scheme for the licensure and regulation of donor human milk banks operating or doing business in the Commonwealth and (ii) the Commissioner to implement and enforce numerous regulations relating to the issuance, renewal, denial, suspension, and revocation of such licenses. The bill requires (a) health insurers, corporations providing health care coverage subscription contracts, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for expenses and (b) the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment of medical assistance services incurred in the provision of pasteurized donor human milk for any infant that is younger than the age of six months and who satisfies certain criteria enumerated in the bill. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027, or whenever the State Board of Health has promulgated regulations for the licensure of donor human milk banks, whichever is later.

Current Bill Text

SB 362

LABOR AND COMMERCE

1. Line 1117, engrossed, after
38.2-3419

strike

or subdivision A 1 of §
38.2-6506

LABOR AND COMMERCE

2. Line 1118, engrossed, after
issue

strike

individual or group

LABOR AND COMMERCE

3. Beginning of line 1120, engrossed

strike

individual or group

LABOR AND COMMERCE

4. Line 1151, engrossed, after
duration.

insert

The provisions of this section shall not apply to policies, contracts, or plans issued in the individual or small group markets.

LABOR AND COMMERCE

5. Line 1221 engrossed, after
3.

insert

That the provisions of this act requiring coverage for expenses incurred in the provision of pasteurized donor human milk as provided in §
38.2-3418.23
of the Code of Virginia, as created by this act, and §
38.2-4319
of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, shall apply only to contracts, policies, or plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on or after the January 1 following at least 10 months after the effective date of this act.

4.