Virginia Law

A. The parties shall report annually to the commissioner on the extent of the benefits realized and compliance with any terms and conditions placed on their letter authorizing cooperative agreement. The report shall:

1. Describe the activities conducted pursuant to the cooperative agreement;

2. Include any actions taken in furtherance of commitments made by the parties or terms imposed by the commissioner as a condition for approval of the cooperative agreement;

3. Include information related to changes in price, cost, quality, access to care, and population health improvement;

4. Include actual costs, revenues, profit margins, and operating costs;

5. Include a charge master;

6. Include information reflecting the contracted rates negotiated with nonphysician providers, allied health professionals, and others;

7. Include any measures requested by the department based on the recommendations of the technical advisory panel appointed pursuant to 12VAC5-221-120; and

8. Include the current status of the quantitative measures established under subsection C of 12VAC5-221-100 and the information requested by the department for benchmarks established in subsection B of 12VAC5-221-100.

B. The parties shall be required to update the parties' plan of separation annually and submit the updated plan of separation to the department. The parties shall provide an independent opinion from a qualified organization that states the plan of separation may be operationally implemented without undue disruption to essential health services provided by the parties.

C. The commissioner may require the parties to supplement the annual report with additional information to the extent necessary to ensure compliance with the cooperative agreement and the letter authorizing cooperative agreement.

D. All annual reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be certified audited by a third-party auditor.

E. The fee due with the filing of the annual report shall be $20,000. If the commissioner should determine that the actual cost incurred by the department is greater than $20,000, the parties shall pay any additional amounts due as instructed by the department. The annual filing fee shall not exceed $75,000.

F. The commissioner shall issue a written decision and the basis for the decision on an annual basis as to whether the benefits of the cooperative agreement continue to outweigh the disadvantages attributable to a reduction in competition that have resulted from the cooperative agreement.