Chapter 16, Chapter 16

This article is known and may be cited as the "West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System Act."

This article shall be referred to as the West Virginia Drug Control Policy Act.

The bureau shall also coordinate and provide older West Virginians the following: (a) In-home services for those who are frail or at risk of becoming institutionalized; and (b) Disease prevention and health screening services.

The bureau shall, within available funds, administer programs, including care management, comprehensive assessment and community and in-home care services, based on a sliding fee scale.

(a) Upon receipt of a complaint filed on behalf of a resident, or on his or her own initiative, a state or regional long-term care ombudsman shall investigate any act, practice, policy or procedure of any long-term care facility or government agency which affects the health, safe…

(a) The director of the department of health shall promulgate rules and regulations for the licensure and certification of lab technicians and lab technologists. All such persons being so employed on the effective date of this article shall be automatically certified and exempt f…

(a) A certificate of birth for each live birth which occurs in this state shall be filed with the section of vital statistics, or as otherwise directed by the state Registrar, within seven days after the birth and shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordan…

(a) Each county commission or political subdivision shall prepare a written notice to be delivered to each emergency medical services officer employed prior to July 1, 2007. This notice shall clearly and accurately explain the benefits, financial implications and consequences to …

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that all state agencies cooperate with the bureau and the State Police in carrying out the provisions of this section. (b) In planning and developing programs and recommendations relating to the prevention of crime and the fear of crime, in…

(a) A state or regional long-term care ombudsman shall, with proper identification, have access to any long-term care facility for the purposes of investigations of a complaint filed pursuant to section ten of this article. The state or regional long-term care ombudsman may enter…

(a) When a live birth occurs, the physician or midwife in attendance at, or present immediately after, the birth shall examine the infant for any of the following birth defects: (1) Anencephaly; (2) Spina bifida; (3) Hydrocephaly; (4) Cleft palate; (5) Total cleft lip; (6) Esopha…

(a) Except for duty disability retirement, no member may retire before January 1, 2011. (b) On or after the date a member attains early or normal retirement age, a member may retire and commence to receive retirement income payments on the first day of the calendar month followin…

(a) The bureau shall continue and maintain its long-term care ombudsman program codified in article five-l, chapter sixteen of this code. The bureau shall also design and implement programs for the benefit of older West Virginians relating to: Elder abuse, neglect and exploitatio…

The bureau shall constitute the designated state agency for handling all programs of the federal government relating to the aging requiring action within the state, which are not the specific responsibility of another state agency under the provisions of federal law or which have…

(a) The long-term care ombudsman is allowed access to any resident's records, including medical records, reasonably necessary to any investigation carried out pursuant to the provisions of section ten of this article, under the following conditions: (1) If the resident is compete…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article or state law, the board shall administer the retirement system in compliance with the limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and regulations under that section, to the extent applicable to governmental plans (he…

(a) Upon receiving a report of the disappearance of any child born in this state, the state Registrar shall indicate in a clear and conspicuous manner in the child's birth record or by an electronic process that the child has been reported as missing, including the title and loca…

(a) All records, files and other property belonging to the West Virginia commission on aging pursuant to article fourteen, chapter twenty-nine of this code shall be turned over to the bureau herein created and shall be continued as part of the records, files and other property th…

(a) The state long-term care ombudsman, or the designee of the state long-term care ombudsman, may, in the course of any investigation carried out pursuant to section ten of this article: (1) Apply to the circuit court of the appropriate county or the circuit court of the county …

(a) Whoever assumes the custody of a live-born infant of unknown parentage shall report, to the state Registrar, on a form and in a manner prescribed by the state Registrar, the following information: (1) The date and city or county, or both, of finding; (2) Sex and approximate b…

The requirements of this section apply to any distribution of a member’s or beneficiary’s interest and take precedence over any inconsistent provisions of this plan. This section applies to plan years beginning after December 31, 1986. Notwithstanding anything in the plan to the …

(a) The state or regional long-term care ombudsman shall have access to publicly disclosable records of any state government department, agency, or office reasonably necessary to any investigation carried out pursuant to section ten of this article. The regional long-term care om…

The bureau shall submit a report on the condition, operation and functioning of the bureau to the Governor and to the members of the Legislature on or before January 1, of each year, in addition to such other recommendations, studies and plans as it may submit from time to time.

(a) The State Registrar may register a delayed certificate of birth in accordance with a legislative rule to be promulgated by the department, which rule will provide for qualifications for applicants and the evidentiary documentation required. The rule may provide for the dismis…

Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary that would otherwise limit a distributee's election under this plan, a distributee may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the board, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution paid directl…

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary that would otherwise prohibit or limit rollovers and plan transfers to this system, the plan shall accept the following rollovers and plan transfers on behalf of a member solely for the purpose of purchasing permis…

(a) There is continued within the Bureau of Senior Services an in-home care worker registry which is to be maintained by the bureau. The purpose of the registry is to provide the public a list of in-home care workers, along with their qualifications, who voluntarily agree to be i…

(a) Information relating to any investigation of a complaint pursuant to section ten of this article that contains the identity of the complainant or resident shall remain confidential except: (1) Where disclosure is authorized in writing by the complainant, or resident or the gu…

(a) If the state Registrar refuses to file a certificate of birth under the provisions of section ten or section fourteen of this article, a petition signed and sworn to by the petitioner may be filed in the circuit court of the county in which the petitioner resides or in the ci…

Any member accruing annual leave or sick leave days may, after the effective date of this section, elect to use the days at the time of retirement to acquire additional credited service in this retirement system: Provided, That the accrued annual or sick leave may not be used to …

(a) An ombudsman participating in an investigation carried out pursuant to section ten of this article and long-term care ombudsman volunteers who are performing their duties pursuant to section eight of this article shall be immune from any civil liability that otherwise might r…

(a) When a court of competent jurisdiction has entered an order of adoption in this state, it shall require the preparation of a certificate of adoption on a form prescribed and furnished by the state Registrar. The certificate of adoption shall be certified by the clerk of the c…

This section describes when adjustment of a member's accrued benefit to reflect the difference in age, in years and months, between the member's annuity starting date and the date the member attains normal retirement age shall be made. This age adjustment, when required, shall be…

The state commission on aging shall establish and maintain procedures to ensure that: (a) Adequate legal counsel is available to the long-term care ombudsman program for advice, consultation and representation as necessary for any state or regional long-term care ombudsman or omb…

(a) When a court of competent jurisdiction has entered an order of paternity, the petitioner shall provide the information necessary for the clerk of the court to complete and certify a certificate of paternity on a form prescribed and furnished by the state Registrar. The certif…

Prior to the effective date of retirement, but not after that date, a member may elect to receive retirement income payments in the normal form, or the actuarial equivalent of the normal form from the following options: (a) Option A-- Contingent joint and survivor annuity. -- A l…

(a) Any individual who willfully interferes with or impedes a state or regional long-term care ombudsman or ombudsman volunteer in the performance of his or her official duties shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100 or im…

(a) The State Registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for a person born in West Virginia when he or she receives the following: (1) A certificate of adoption as provided in section sixteen of this article or a certificate of adoption prepared and filed in accordance …

(a) Any member who terminates covered employment and is not immediately eligible to receive disability or retirement income benefits under this article is, by written request filed with the board, entitled to receive from the fund the member's accumulated contributions. Except as…

Every long-term care facility in this state shall provide each resident with a copy and shall post in a conspicuous location in at least ten-point type a notice of information on the long-term care ombudsman program. Such notice shall include: (1) The name, address and telephone …

(1) If the place of death is unknown, but the dead body is found in this state, the place where the body was found shall be shown as the place of death. (2) If the date of death is unknown, it shall be approximated. If the date cannot be approximated, the date found shall be show…

(a) Any member who after the effective date of this article and during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally or partially disabled by injury, illness, or disease; and (2) the disability is a result of an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the ser…

(a) The purpose of this article is to provide guidance and assistance in the development of new or improved activities and programs to help older West Virginians maintain independence, honor and dignity, within available federal and state funds. (b) This article establishes an ar…

(a) The catastrophic illness commission shall consist of six members appointed for terms of five years by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and the long term care ombudsman, who shall serve as a nonvoting ex officio member. One member shall be a medi…

The Legislature recognizes that the state commission on aging, as set forth in article fourteen, chapter twenty-nine of this code, pursuant to a grant from the federal government, has established a West Virginia long-term care ombudsman program. The Legislature declares that it i…

Unless the context clearly otherwise indicates, as used in this article: (a) "Bureau" means the Bureau for Children and Families Public Health. (b) "Council" means the Governor's Early Intervention Interagency Coordinating Council. (c) "Department" means the Department of Health.…

The term "clinical laboratory" means any facility or place, however named, for the biological, microbiological, serological, chemical, immuno-hematological, hematological, biophysical, crytological, pathological, or other examination of materials derived from the human body for t…

As used in this article: (1) "Decision" means any determination, action, vote or final disposition of a motion, proposal, resolution, order or measure on which a vote of the governing body is required at any meeting at which a quorum is present; (2) "Executive session" means any …

As used in this article: "Department" means the West Virginia Department of Health; "Rare disease" means any disease which affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States and is known to be substantially under-diagnosed and unrecognized as a result of lack of adequate diag…

The director shall formulate and put into effect throughout the state an educational program for the purpose of preventing cancer and of aiding in its early diagnosis, and for the purpose of giving information to hospitals and cancer patients concerning the proper treatment. In f…