Health General
| Bills | Committee | Last action | Date |
| HB 8 - Ware - Medical Ethics Defense Act; established. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services | (H) Left in Health and Human Services | 02/13/24 |
| notes: Establishes the right of a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care payer not to participate in or pay for any medical procedure or service that violates such medical practitioner's, health care institution's, or health care payer's conscience, as those terms and conditions are defined in the bill. The bill provides protections for medical practitioners who disclose violations of the bill or report violations of laws or ethical guidelines for the safe provision of any medical procedure or service. The bill also provides a private right of action for any party harmed by violations of the bill. | |||
| HB 32 - Clark - Medicine, Board of; continuing ed. related to implicit bias and cultural competency in health care. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services | (H) Incorporated by Health and Human Services (HB1130-Hayes) | 01/30/24 |
| notes: Requires the Board of Medicine to adopt and implement policies that require each practitioner licensed by the Board who has direct contact with persons who are or may become pregnant to complete two hours of continuing education related to implicit bias, defined in the bill, and cultural competency in health care at least once every other license renewal cycle. | |||
| HB 34 - Clark - Contract actions; collection of medical debt, definition. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0800) | 04/17/24 |
| notes: Provides that the statute of limitations for an action on any contract, written or unwritten, to collect medical debt, including actions brought by the Commonwealth, is three years from the original date of a health care service unless the contract with a hospital or health care provider is for a payment plan that allows for a longer period of time for the collection of debt by the hospital or health care provider. | |||
| HB 42 - Hope - Dentists and dental hygienists; added to list of providers who are immune from civil liability, etc. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0096) | 03/20/24 |
| notes: Adds dentists and dental hygienists to the list of providers who are immune from civil liability for any act done or made in performance of his duties while serving as a member of or consultant to an entity that functions primarily to review, evaluate, or make recommendations on a professional program to address issues related to career fatigue and wellness in health care professionals. The bill also extends civil immunity to certain providers for any act done or made in performance of his duties while serving as a member of or consultant to an entity that functions primarily to arrange for or provide outpatient health care for health care professionals. The bill also revises the Board of Medicine reporting requirements when a health care professional is admitted for mental health treatment. Under the bill, if a health care professional is voluntarily admitted to a health care institution for treatment of a substance abuse or psychiatric illness and is no longer believed to be a danger within 30 days then no report will be made to the Board of Medicine. | |||
| HB 87 - Green - Hospital regulations; patient drug testing. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services | (H) Left in Health and Human Services | 02/13/24 |
| notes: Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulations to require hospitals to test patients who are presenting with overdose symptoms for fentanyl and to test for fentanyl, marijuana, amphetamines, opioids, and phencyclidine as a part of any routine drug screening administered to a patient. | |||
| HB 93 - Wachsmann - Alpha-gal syndrome; Board of Health shall adopt regulations to include on reportable disease list. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0375) | 04/04/24 |
| notes: Directs the Board of Health to add alpha-gal syndrome to the list of diseases required to be reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. | |||
| HB 114 - Ware - Health Insurance Reform Commission; increases membership. | (H) Committee on Labor and Commerce (S) Committee on Rules | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0098) | 03/20/24 |
| notes: Adds two legislative members to the Health Insurance Reform Commission. The bill requires one such member to be a member of the House Committee on Appropriations who is appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates and one to be a member of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations who is appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. This bill is a recommendation of the Health Insurance Reform Commission. | |||
| HB 188 - Hope - Advance Health Care Planning Registry; amendment of regulations. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0274) | 04/02/24 |
| notes: Amends the list of documents that may be submitted to the Advance Health Care Directive Registry to include any other document that supports advance health care planning. The bill also changes the name of the Advance Health Care Directive Registry to the Advance Health Care Planning Registry. | |||
| HB 255 - Mundon King - Adult wellness screening; sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0182) | 03/28/24 |
| 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 324 - Glass - PA Licensure Compact; authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to Compact. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0439) | 04/04/24 |
| notes: Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the PA Licensure Compact. The Compact permits eligible physician assistants to practice in Compact-participating states, provided that they are licensed in at least one participating state. The Compact has been passed in three states and takes effect when it is enacted by a seventh participating state or upon the effective date of the bill, whichever is later. | |||
| HB 353 - Hope - Hospitals; emergency departments to have at least one licensed physician on duty at all times. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0441) | 04/04/24 |
| HB 511 - Cohen - Out-of-state health care practitioners; temp. authorization to practice in assisted living fac. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0390) | 04/04/24 |
| notes: Adds assisted living facilities to the list of eligible health care employers for which a health care practitioner licensed, certified, or registered in another state or the District of Columbia may temporarily practice for one 90-day period, provided that the practitioner is contracted by or has received an offer of employment in the Commonwealth from the health care employer and when certain other conditions are met. | |||
| HB 858 - Hope - Health care; decision-making, end of life, penalties. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services | (H) Failed to pass in House | 02/13/24 |
| 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. 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 15 - Favola - Reproductive health care services; prohibitions on extradition for certain criminal violations. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (S) Senate sustained Governor's veto | 04/17/24 |
| notes: Provides that no demand for extradition of a person charged with a criminal violation of law of another state shall be recognized by the Governor if such alleged violation involves the receipt of or assistance with reproductive health care services within the Commonwealth unless the alleged criminal violation would also constitute a criminal offense under the laws of the Commonwealth. The bill also provides that such limit on extradition shall not apply when the person who is subject to such demand for extradition by another state was physically present in the demanding state at the time of the commission of the alleged offense and thereafter fled from such state. | |||
| SB 16 - Favola - Search warrants, subpoenas, court orders, or other process; menstrual health data prohibited. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee for Courts of Justice | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0571) | 04/05/24 |
| notes: Prohibits the issuance of a search warrant for the search and seizure of menstrual health data, as defined in the bill, stored on a computer, computer network, or other device containing electronic or digital information. | |||
| SB 22 - Locke - Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact; authorizes VA to become a signatory to the Compact. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0031) | 03/08/24 |
| notes: Authorizes Virginia to become a signatory to the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. The Compact increases public access to dental services by permitting eligible licensed dentists and dental hygienists to practice in Compact participating states, provided that they are licensed in at least one participating state. The Compact has been passed in three states and takes effect when it is enacted by a seventh participating state or upon the effective date of the bill, whichever is later. | |||
| SB 33 - Locke - Certified registered nurse anesthetists; supervision during an operation or procedure. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (H) Continued to 2025 in Health and Human Services | 02/20/24 |
| notes: Clarifies that supervision of a certified registered nurse anesthetist requires that a licensed doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, or dentistry is present during an operation or procedure or is immediately available to respond and provide patient care as needed. The bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine, Board of Nursing, and Department of Health Professions, to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to evaluate and make recommendations to increase the anesthesia provider workforce in the Commonwealth. 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, 2024. | |||
| SB 91 - Favola - Paid sick leave; home health workers providing agency-directed services. | (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (S) Continued to 2025 in Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) | 01/31/24 |
| notes: Requires employers to provide paid sick leave to home health workers who provide agency-directed services. Under current law, employers are only required to provide paid sick leave to home health workers who provide consumer-directed services. The bill provides that "employer" includes the Commonwealth, any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions, and any public body. | |||
| SB 132 - Head - Health Insurance Reform Commission; assessment of certain legislation, report. | (H) Committee on Labor and Commerce (S) Committee on Rules | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0036) | 03/08/24 |
| notes: Requires the Health Insurance Reform Commission, whenever the Chairman of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce or the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor requests that the Commission assess a legislative measure containing a mandated health insurance benefit or provider, to complete its assessment and submit a report for each such request within 24 months. | |||
| SB 133 - Head - Physician assistants; practice agreement exemption. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0116) | 03/20/24 |
| notes: Allows physician assistants employed by a hospital or employed in certain facilities operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or in federally qualified health centers designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to practice without a separate practice agreement if the credentialing and privileging requirements of the applicable facility include a practice arrangement, as described in the bill. | |||
| SB 154 - Head - Advance Health Care Planning Registry; amendment of regulations. | (H) Committee on Health and Human Services (S) Committee on Education and Health | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0231) | 03/28/24 |
| notes: Amends the list of documents that may be submitted to the Advance Health Care Directive Registry to include any other document that supports advance health care planning. The bill also changes the name of the Advance Health Care Directive Registry to the Advance Health Care Planning Registry. The bill directs the Department of Health to amend certain Advance Health Care Planning Registry regulations. | |||
| SB 280 - Hashmi - Health care; decision-making, definitions, medical aid in dying, penalties. | (H) Committee for Courts of Justice (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (H) Continued to 2025 with substitute in Courts of Justice | 03/04/24 |
| 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. 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 351 - Boysko - Advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives; joint licensing. | (S) Committee on Education and Health | (S) Continued to 2025 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) | 02/08/24 |
| notes: Moves the professions of advanced practice registered nurses and licensed certified midwives from being licensed jointly by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing to being licensed by the Board of Nursing only. | |||