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

(a) The 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 or prior authorization 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. The Bureau for Medical Services shall update the managed care contract to include language that the contracted managed care company may not present barriers that delay or prevent access, such as prior authorizations or step-therapy failure requirements; and should receive patient-centered education and counseling on all FDA-approved birth control methods.

(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 a fetus 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 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.