West Virginia House Bill HB2240

West Virginia 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/12/25

Caption

Relating to authorizing the Department of Health to promulgate a legislative rule relating to statewide trauma and emergency care system

Summary

HB2240 is a rule authorization bill that approves a legislative rule for the West Virginia Department of Health concerning the statewide trauma and emergency care system. The bill does not create a new trauma system in statute itself; rather, it gives legislative approval to an existing agency rule that was filed, modified to address objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee, and refiled for authorization. The measure effectively allows the Department of Health to proceed with implementing and administering the statewide trauma and emergency care system rule under the authority of state law. By authorizing the rule, the Legislature is endorsing the regulatory framework governing trauma center designation, emergency care coordination, and related system standards, while leaving the detailed operational requirements to the agency rulemaking process.

Impact

HB2240 amends the West Virginia Code section governing legislative rule approvals to authorize the Department of Health’s statewide trauma and emergency care system rule, codified as 64 CSR 27. Its practical impact is to validate the agency’s regulatory authority over trauma system administration and emergency care standards, affecting hospitals, trauma centers, emergency medical services, and other providers participating in the state trauma network. The bill itself does not change substantive statutory policy beyond granting rule approval, but it enables the rule to take effect and be enforced.

Sentiment

The available record suggests the bill is largely administrative and noncontroversial. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes indicating opposition, and the bill’s purpose is simply to authorize a revised agency rule after review by the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee. The overall sentiment appears neutral to supportive, reflecting routine legislative approval of a health and public safety regulation rather than a contested policy change.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. The only implied issue is that the Department of Health had to modify the rule to meet objections from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee before refiling it, which suggests there were technical or drafting concerns during the rule review process. However, no substantive disagreement from legislators, providers, or the public is shown in the record provided.