Health General
| Bills | Committee | Last action | Date |
| HB 1409 - Brewer - Drug Control act; distribution of hypodermic needles. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0142) | 03/21/23 |
| notes: Provides that the regulation of persons acting as medical equipment suppliers and restrictions on the distribution of hypodermic needles and syringes do not prohibit the dispensing or distribution of hypodermic needles, syringes, or insulin pens by persons authorized to dispense insulin for the treatment of diabetes. | |||
| HB 1446 - Orrock - Certified nursing facilities; minimum staffing standards, administrative sanctions. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 | 03/02/23 |
| notes: Sets nursing staffing requirements for certified nursing facilities, imposes administrative sanctions on a certified nursing facility if it does not comply with the staffing requirements, and provides for exemptions to the administrative sanctions under certain circumstances. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026. | |||
| HB 1447 - Orrock - Controlled substances; administration by emergency medical providers. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Approved by Governor-Chapter 267 (effective 7/1/23) | 03/22/23 |
| notes: Allows paramedics certified by the Board of Health who act pursuant to an oral or written order or standing protocol and who are employed or engaged at a medical care facility to administer controlled substances. | |||
| HB 1449 - Orrock - Emergency medical services providers; administration of prescription medication. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0015) | 03/16/23 |
| notes: Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to adopt a process to allow emergency medical services providers to administer prescription medication to persons under certain circumstances. | |||
| HB 1489 - Davis - Naturopathic medicine; establishes licensure requirements for the practice. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Stricken from docket by Health, Welfare and Institutions (21-Y 0-N) | 01/17/23 |
| notes: Establishes licensure requirements for the practice of naturopathic medicine, including educational requirements, examinations, and scope of practice for licensure as a naturopathic doctor, defined in the bill. The bill requires the Board of Medicine to promulgate regulations governing the profession and establishes the Advisory Board on Naturopathy to make recommendations to the Board of Medicine. | |||
| HB 1600 - Robinson - Certificate of public need; expedited review process. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 02/07/23 |
| notes: Requires the Department of Health to establish an expedited review process for certain projects involving addition of imaging equipment, addition of a new ambulatory or outpatient surgery center, addition of operating rooms at an existing ambulatory or outpatient surgery center, and addition of psychiatric beds or conversion of existing beds at a medical care facility to psychiatric beds and requires the Board of Health to include in regulations governing the certificate of public need program a provision for the development of review criteria and standards for specific medical care facilities and health care services for each health planning region that take into account the unique needs and characteristics of such region. The bill also amends the definition of "charity care" and defines "health care service" and "indigent." | |||
| HB 1754 - Head - Telemedicine; practitioner-patient relationship, continuity of care. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Approved by Governor-Chapter 150 (effective 7/1/23) | 03/22/23 |
| notes: Allows patients who have an established relationship with a practitioner who is a member of a health maintenance organization or multispecialty group to receive services from a practitioner who is a member of the same multispecialty group via telemedicine without undergoing another in-person exam within the specified time period and increases the specified time period from one year to three years. The bill increases from one year to three years the period during which psychologists and clinical social workers who are licensed outside the Commonwealth and who meet certain criteria may provide behavioral health services via telemedicine to a patient located in the Commonwealth. | |||
| HB 2073 - Murphy - Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and Commission; created. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 02/07/23 |
| notes: Creates the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to create a process for expedited issuance of a license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth for qualifying physicians to enhance the portability of medical licenses while protecting patient safety. The bill establishes requirements for coordination of information systems among member states and procedures for investigation and discipline of physicians alleged to have engaged in unprofessional conduct. The bill creates the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission to administer the compact. | |||
| HB 2094 - Mundon King - Adult wellness screening; sickle cell anemia or sickle cell trait. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 02/07/23 |
| notes: Requires that every adult in the Commonwealth be subjected at the time of his annual physical examination to screening tests for the disease of sickle cell anemia or the sickle cell trait. Under the bill, any adult who objects on religious grounds is not required to receive such screening tests. | |||
| HB 2183 - Robinson - Nurse practitioners; practice authority upon licensure. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions | (H) Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions | 02/07/23 |
| notes: Removes the requirement that nurse practitioners, other than a nurse practitioner licensed by the Boards of Medicine and Nursing in the category of certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist, who meet certain conditions may practice without a practice agreement only if they have completed the equivalent of at least five years of full-time clinical experience as a licensed nurse practitioner. The bill also removes patient care team requirements for nurse practitioners. The bill removes the existing provision allowing a physician to serve as a patient care team physician on a patient care team with up to 10 nurse practitioners licensed in the category of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, thus limiting any patient care team physician to a patient care team with no more than six nurse practitioners. | |||
| HB 2200 - Robinson - Anti-cancer drugs; analyzing current reimbursement, etc., for medical practices that administer. | (H) Committee on Finance (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 | 03/13/23 |
| notes: Provides a deduction from license taxes for anti-cancer drugs purchased by a medical practice and administered within a physician-patient relationship to patients. The exemption shall only apply to drugs that are administered to a patient whose costs for treatment are paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE. | |||
| HB 2206 - Kilgore - Proton therapy; clinical evidence for decisions on coverage. | (H) Committee on Commerce and Energy | (H) Left in Commerce and Energy | 02/07/23 |
| notes: Requires that a health insurance carrier consider (i) coverage for proton radiation therapy by Medicare, Medicaid, or any other governmental health or (ii) a recommendation of proton radiation therapy by a patient's treating physician or radiation oncologist as a sufficient standard of clinical evidence to justify coverage of proton therapy coverage. | |||
| HB 2211 - Tran - Graduates of foreign nursing education programs; licensure requirements. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 | 03/02/23 |
| notes: Requires that applicants for licensure to practice professional nursing who are graduates of a nursing education program in a foreign country (i) pass a written examination as required by the Board of Nursing; (ii) pass a language examination that assesses general English proficiency provided by an entity approved by the Board of Nursing; and (iii) submit their educational credentials for evaluation and verification by an entity approved by the Board of Nursing. The bill requires the Board of Nursing to (a) identify at least three approved entities to provide language examinations and at least three approved entities to evaluate and verify credentials earned from a nursing education program in a foreign country and (b) make the list of approved entities publicly available on the Board of Nursing website. | |||
| HB 2222 - Hayes - Surgical assistants; practice prior to licensure. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 | 03/13/23 |
| notes: Allows surgical technologists and surgical assistants who have successfully completed an accredited surgical technologist training program or surgical assistant training program to practice under certain conditions prior to certification or licensure, respectively. The bill allows such person to practice as a surgical technologist with the title "surgical technologist, certificate applicant" until he has received a failing score on any examination for national certification or six months from the date of program completion, whichever occurs sooner. The bill allows such person to practice as a surgical assistant with the title "surgical assistant, license applicant" until he has received a failing score on the national certification examination or six months from the date of graduation, whichever occurs sooner. | |||
| HB 2274 - Kilgore - Pharmacist scope of practice; initiation of treatment for various diseases and conditions. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Approved by Governor-Chapter 171 (effective 7/1/23) | 03/22/23 |
| notes: Allows pharmacists to initiate treatment with, dispense, or administer controlled substances or devices for the initiation of treatment of group A streptococcus bacteria infection, influenza virus infection, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, COVID-19 virus infection, and urinary tract infection to persons 18 years of age or older with whom the pharmacist has a bona fide pharmacist-patient relationship in accordance with regulations set forth by the Board of Pharmacy. The bill directs the Board of Medicine, in collaboration with the Board of Pharmacy and the Department of Health, to establish a statewide protocol for the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs and devices by pharmacists in accordance with the provisions of the bill by November 1, 2023, and directs the Board of Pharmacy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. | |||
| HB 2359 - Fariss - Physical therapy; practice. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0136) | 03/21/23 |
| notes: Eliminates the requirement that treatment by a licensed physical therapist for more than 60 consecutive days after evaluation of the patient occurs only upon the referral and direction of a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, podiatry, or dental surgery, a licensed nurse practitioner, or a licensed physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician. The bill also allows licensed physical therapists to practice dry needling without a referral. Additionally, the bill clarifies that a licensed physical therapist may provide, without referral or supervision, physical therapy services to students with disabilities who require physical therapy services to fulfill the provisions of their individualized education plan or physical therapy services provided under § 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The bill directs the Board of Physical Therapy to report, by December 1, 2024, to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions a summary of disciplinary actions taken against physical therapists whose conduct resulted in physical harm to a patient when such patient received more than 60 consecutive days of physical therapy treatment without a physician referral. | |||
| SB 827 - Favola - Hospital emergency departments; required security and training, regulations. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 | 03/02/23 |
| notes: Directs the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require every hospital with an emergency department to have at least one off-duty law-enforcement officer or a trained security officer present at all times. Hospital protocols shall ensure such officers providing security receive training in the use of weapons, defensive tactics, de-escalation techniques, appropriate physical restraint techniques, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed approaches in identifying and safely addressing situations involving patients, family members, or other persons who pose a risk of harm to themselves or others due to mental illness or substance abuse or who are experiencing a mental health crisis. | |||
| SB 926 - Favola - Emergency Department Care Management Grant Program and Fund; established and created, report. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (H) Tabled in Appropriations (12-Y 10-N) | 02/15/23 |
| notes: Establishes the Emergency Department Care Management Grant Program and the Emergency Department Care Management Grant Fund. The bill provides that the Program is established to provide grants to eligible hospitals that provide care management and medical services to frequent users of hospital emergency departments, with grants to be awarded to (i) reduce patient usage of emergency departments for routine, nonurgent, primary medical care; (ii) support emergency department case management staff; (iii) identify and analyze the comprehensive health care needs of patients; (iv) identify social determinants of health and barriers to care; (v) facilitate collaboration with providers and payers to develop a plan for community care; and (vi) improve the ability of patients to manage their care in the community. The bill directs the Department of Health to evaluate the effectiveness of the Program and requires the State Health Commissioner to report the Department's findings to the General Assembly and the Joint Commission on Health Care by October 1, 2027. The provisions of the bill sunset on July 1, 2028. | |||
| SB 930 - Hashmi - Health care; decision making, end of life, penalties. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (9-Y 5-N) | 01/26/23 |
| notes: Allows an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition to request and an attending health care provider to prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life in a humane and dignified manner. The bill requires that a patient's request for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life must be given orally on two occasions and in writing, signed by the patient and one witness, and that the patient be given an express opportunity to rescind his request at any time. The bill makes it a Class 2 felony (i) to willfully and deliberately alter, forge, conceal, or destroy a patient's request, or rescission of request, for a self-administered controlled substance to end his life with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; (ii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to request a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending his life or to destroy the patient's rescission of such request with the intent and effect of causing the patient's death; or (iii) to coerce, intimidate, or exert undue influence on a patient to forgo a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient's life. The bill also grants immunity from civil or criminal liability and professional disciplinary action to any person who complies with the provisions of the bill and allows health care providers to refuse to participate in the provision of a self-administered controlled substance to a patient for the purpose of ending the patient's life. | |||
| SB 948 - Suetterlein - Pharmacist scope of practice; initiation of treatment for various diseases and conditions. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Approved by Governor-Chapter 172 (effective 7/1/23) | 03/22/23 |
| notes: Allows pharmacists to initiate treatment with, dispense, or administer controlled substances or devices for treatment of Group A Streptococcus infection, influenza virus infection, and urinary tract infection to persons 18 years of age or older or persons otherwise authorize to consent with whom the pharmacist has a bona fide pharmacist-patient relationship in accordance with regulations set forth by the Board of Pharmacy. The bill directs the Board of Medicine, in collaboration with the Board of Pharmacy and the Department of Health, to establish a statewide protocol for the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs and devices by pharmacists in accordance with the provisions of the bill by November 1, 2023, and directs the Board of Pharmacy to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. | |||
| SB 953 - Petersen - Certificate of public need; expedited review process for certain projects, report. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (8-Y 7-N) | 02/02/23 |
| notes: Requires the Department of Health to establish an expedited review process for certain projects involving addition of imaging equipment, addition of a new ambulatory or outpatient surgery center, addition of operating rooms at an existing ambulatory or outpatient surgery center, and addition of psychiatric beds or conversion of existing beds at a medical care facility to psychiatric beds and requires the Board of Health to include in regulations governing the certificate of public need program a provision for the development of review criteria and standards for specific medical care facilities and health care services for each health planning region that take into account the unique needs and characteristics of such region. The bill also amends the definition of "charity care," redefines "clinical health service" as "health care service," and adds a definition of "indigent" for purposes of the certificate of public need program. The bill directs the Department of Health to convene a work group of stakeholders to make recommendations for funding options to alleviate the risk of financial insolvency for public and private hospitals with fewer than 100 licensed beds in the event of a future public health emergency. The bill requires the work group to report its recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by November 1, 2023. | |||
| SB 970 - Mason - Mental health conditions & impairment; health regulatory board w/in DHP to amend its applications. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0019) | 03/16/23 |
| notes: Directs the Department of Health Professions to amend its licensure, certification, and registration applications to remove any existing questions pertaining to mental health conditions and impairment to and include the following questions: (i) Do you have any reason to believe that you would pose a risk to the safety or well-being of your patients or clients?; and (ii) Are you able to perform the essential functions of a practitioner in your area of practice with or without reasonable accommodation? The bill contains an emergency clause. | |||
| SB 1005 - Hashmi - Physical therapy; practice. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0137) | 03/21/23 |
| notes: Eliminates the requirement that treatment by a licensed physical therapist for more than 60 consecutive days after evaluation of the patient occurs only upon the referral and direction of a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, podiatry, or dental surgery, a licensed nurse practitioner, or a licensed physician assistant acting under the supervision of a licensed physician. The bill also allows licensed physical therapists to practice dry needling without a referral. Additionally, the bill clarifies that a licensed physical therapist may provide, without referral or supervision, physical therapy services to students with disabilities who require physical therapy services to fulfill the provisions of their individualized education plan or physical therapy services provided under § 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The bill directs the Board of Physical Therapy to report, by December 1, 2024, to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions a summary of disciplinary actions taken against physical therapists whose conduct resulted in physical harm to a patient when such patient received more than 60 consecutive days of physical therapy treatment without a physician referral. | |||
| SB 1006 - DeSteph - Associate physicians; licensure and practice. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Passed by indefinitely in Education and Health (14-Y 0-N) | 01/26/23 |
| notes: Authorizes the Board of Medicine to issue a two-year license to practice as an associate physician to an applicant who (i) is 18 years of age or older; (ii) is of good moral character; (iii) has graduated from an accredited medical school; (iv) has successfully completed Step 1 and Step 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination within the two-year period immediately preceding application for licensure or has successfully completed Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination, regardless of the date of completion of each step; and (v) has not completed a medical internship or residency program. The bill requires all associate physicians to practice in accordance with a written practice agreement entered into between the associate physician and a physician licensed by the Board and provides for prescriptive authority of associate physicians in accordance with regulations of the Board. | |||
| SB 1119 - Stuart - Telemedicine; practitioner-patient relationship, continuity of care. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Approved by Governor-Chapter 151 (effective 7/1/23) | 03/22/23 |
| notes: Allows patients who have an established relationship with a practitioner who is a member of a health maintenance organization or multispecialty group to receive services from a practitioner who is a member of the same multispecialty group via telemedicine without undergoing another in-person exam within the specified time period and increases the specified time period from one year to three years. The bill increases from one year to three years the period during which psychologists and clinical social workers who are licensed outside the Commonwealth and who meet certain criteria may provide behavioral health services via telemedicine to a patient located in the Commonwealth. | |||
| SB 1279 - Boysko - Over-the-counter and prescription hearing aids; licensure not required by certain corporations, etc. | (H) Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions (S) Committee on General Laws and Technology | (G) Approved by Governor-Chapter 274 (effective 7/1/23) | 03/22/23 |
| notes: Clarifies that licensure by the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians is not required for a corporation, partnership, trust, association, or other like organization engaged in the business of selling prescription hearing aids, defined in the bill as a hearing aid that is not an over-the-counter hearing aid, provided that it employs only licensed practitioners in the direct sale and fitting of prescription hearing aids. | |||