| HB 140 w/ HA 1 | Committee | Baumbach | This Act permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual's life in a humane and dignified manner if both the individual's attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and a consulting physician or consulting APRN agree on the individual's diagnosis and prognosis and believe the individual has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily.
This Act uses terms and definitions that are consistent with other Delaware laws in Title 16, specifically Chapter 25 (regarding advance health-care directives) and Chapter 25A (regarding Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment).
This Act provides the following procedural safeguards:
1. No one may request medication to end life on behalf of another individual.
2. An individual cannot qualify for medication to end life under this chapter solely because of the individual's age or disability. A mental illness or mental health condition is not a qualifying condition under this Act and a mental illness or mental health condition may be the reason that an individual does not have decision-making capacity and is thus, ineligible for medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner.
3. Both the individual's attending physician or attending APRN and a consulting physician or consulting APRN must confirm that the individual has a terminal illness and a prognosis of 6 months or less to live, has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily.
4. The individual's attending physician or attending APRN must also provide specific disclosures to the individual to ensure that the individual is making an informed decision, including the presentation of all end of life options which include comfort care, palliative care, hospice care, and pain control.
5. The individual must be evaluated by a psychiatrist or a psychologist if either the attending or consulting physicians or APRNs are concerned that the individual lacks decision-making capacity.
6. The individual must complete a witnessed form requesting medication to end life and there are limitations on who can witness the signing of the form.
7. The attending physician or attending APRN must offer the individual the opportunity to rescind the request for medication to end life before writing a prescription for the medication.
8. Two waiting periods must pass before the attending physician or attending APRN may prescribe the medication to end life.
9. The attending physician or attending APRN must provide the qualified patient with instructions about the proper safe-keeping and disposal of unused medication to end life in a humane and dignified manner under applicable state or federal guidelines. The United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines include using a medication collection site or a medication disposal pouch, that deactivates and renders drugs ineffective.
10. An insurer or health-care provider may not deny or alter health-care benefits otherwise available to an individual based upon the availability of medication to end life or otherwise coerce or require a request for medication to end life as a condition of receiving care.
11. A health-care institution may prohibit a physician or APRN from prescribing medication under this Act on the health-care institution's premises and a physician or APRN may to refuse to prescribe medication under this Act.
12. A request or prescription for or the dispensing of medication under this Act does not constitute elder abuse, suicide, assisted-suicide, homicide, or euthanasia.
13. People acting in good faith and in accordance with generally accepted health-care standards under this Act have immunity, but those acting with negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct do not have criminal or civil immunity.
14. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) must develop rules and regulations to collect information regarding compliance with this Act and require health-care providers to file a report when medication to end life in a humane and dignified manner is prescribed or dispensed. DHSS may review samples of records maintained under this Act.
The information DHSS collects must include the information necessary to assess a physician's or APRN's compliance with their responsibilities under this Act and DHSS has explicit authority to share information with the Division of Professional Regulation if DHSS suspects that a health-care provider failed to comply with the requirements under this Act.
15. DHSS must complete an annual statistical report of information collected under this Act, similar to public reports available in other states such as New Jersey where this end of life option is available. This report has the following purposes:
• To assist the DHSS in its oversight responsibilities for this Act.
• To assist the public in learning how well this new law is operating.
16. The Department of State may also promulgate regulations or develop forms and protocols necessary under this Act.
17. Allows the Office of Controlled Substances to provide reports of data in the prescription monitoring program to DHSS to assess compliance with this Act.
This Act takes effect when final regulations required under this Act have been promulgated or July 1, 2024, whichever occurs earlier.
This Act is known as "The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law" in memory of Ron Silverio and Heather Block, who were passionate advocates that passed away without this option becoming available to them. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO END OF LIFE OPTIONS. |
| HS 1 for HB 253 w/ HA 1 | Committee | K. Williams | This Act is a substitute for House Bill 253. Like HB 253, it requires health insurance companies, including State employee/retiree health plans and Medicaid, to cover annual mammograms for the purpose of early detection for a woman 40 years of age or older, with or without referral from the woman’s health care provider. It also prohibits mammography facilities from requiring that women, 40 years of age or older, provide the facility with the name of a healthcare provider in order to receive an annual screening mammogram.
This substitute differs from HB 253 by updating Title 18, Section 3552 of the Delaware for consistency with the rest of the bill. Specifically, it requires insurance carriers to provide coverage for annual mammograms for cancer screening beginning at age 40 rather than age 50 and prohibits carriers from requiring a referral for these annual mammograms. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 16, 18, 29, AND 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MAMMOGRAMS. |
| HS 2 for HB 13 | Committee | Phillips | This Act requires the Director of the Sustainable Energy Utility to administer a program to provide financial assistance to Delaware residents for the cost of purchase and installation of electric vehicle supply equipment. For a low-income applicant (meaning up to 300% of the federal poverty level for household income), financial assistance covering up to 90% of the purchase and installation costs may be covered. For all other applicants the program may offer assistance to cover up to 50% of the costs.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES. |
| HB 352 | Committee | Cooke | This Act gives county code enforcement constables the authority to tow abandoned vehicles on private property. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL OF ABANDONED VEHICLES. |
| HA 1 to HS 1 for HB 253 | Passed | K. Williams | This amendment deletes a provision from HS 1 for HB 253 that prohibits any mammogram facility from refusing to provide a mammogram for self-referred patients. This amendment instead requires that facilities either provide a mammogram for self-referred patients or refer such patients to a hospital or outpatient facility with the resources to not only provide a mammogram, but also assist the patient with understanding the results and arranging appropriate follow-up care. This amendment makes no changes to the requirements for insurance companies to provide coverage for self-referred mammograms. | |
| HS 1 for HB 270 w/ HA 1 | Committee | K. Williams | This Act creates a civil penalty for any sale or display of ammunition that allows the ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser or transferee without the assistance of the vendor or an employee of the vendor. Ammunition in an enclosed display case, behind a counter or other customer access preventing device is not considered accessible for purposes of this section.
This Act also requires that a deadly weapons dealer must include with their license application and renewal application a description of their theft and loss prevention policies and procedures as well as a report of all ammunition losses or theft within the prior year.
Finally, the Act increases the maximum monetary penalty for violation of the provisions requiring a license to sell deadly weapons, sale to those under 21 or intoxicated persons, failing to keep required records, or failing to comply with the requirements for background checks between unlicensed persons.
It takes effect 1 year after its enactment.
This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 270 differs from the original in the following ways:
It specifies that information related to theft and loss prevention policies and procedures is not subject to FOIA
It changes the word “person” to “licensee” in sections 902 and 905.
It specifies that the content of loss and prevention policies are not a basis for denial of a deadly weapons dealer license.
It reduces all of the monetary penalties.
It removes the shoplifting enhancement.
It changes jurisdiction over the offense from JP Court to the Court of Common Pleas. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 11 AND 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO AMMUNITION. |
| HS 1 for HB 293 | Committee | Carson | Federal and Delaware law protect the right to vote and the rights of individuals with disabilities to have equal access to voting places and public facilities. Nonetheless, recent information suggests that a substantial number of polling places in Delaware are either inaccessible to persons with disabilities or lack accessible parking, infringing on the right of all eligible persons to vote in this State.
This substitute, like House Bill No. 293, requires that the Department of Elections ensure that polling places selected for elections are accessible to voters with disabilities and elderly voters. This substitute adds a provision that in addition to being accessible, the accessibility features are available to voters in any election. Like House Bill No. 293, this substitute allows certain exceptions for states of emergency, or for circumstances in which no accessible polling place in a particular polling area is available and the Election Commissioner ensures that those voters impacted are provided with an alternative accessible polling place or alternative means for casting a ballot upon advance request. This substitute limits the states of emergency that would allow an exception to natural disasters or other emergencies that render a polling place unsafe or unusable. This substitute also adds a provision allowing any person with information that the Department has not complied with this section to file an administrative complaint with the Department.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ELECTIONS. |
| SCR 142 | Passed | Sturgeon | This Concurrent Resolution observes April 2024, as the "2024 Month of the Military Child" in the State of Delaware. | OBSERVING APRIL 2024, AS THE "2024 MONTH OF THE MILITARY CHILD" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| SCR 145 | Passed | Pettyjohn | This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes April 18, 2024, as "National Line Worker Appreciation Day" in the State of Delaware. | RECOGNIZING APRIL 18, 2024, AS "NATIONAL LINE WORKER APPRECIATION DAY" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HA 1 to HB 140 | Passed | Baumbach | This Amendment extends the implementation deadline for this Act from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025. | |
| HA 1 to HS 1 for HB 270 | Passed | K. Williams | This amendment clarifies that ammunition means “1 or more rounds of fixed ammunition designed for use in and capable of being fired from a pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle but shall not mean inert rounds or expended shells, hulls or casings”. This definition already exists in Title 11 and is added as a cross-reference here. | |
