republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/sb-1269.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder."
description: "Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider with prescriptive authority, or its contracting agent, contain provisions that require, when a carrier has previously approved prior authorization for any drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, no additional prior authorization can be required if (i) the drug is a covered benefit, (ii) the prescription does not exceed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-labeled dosages, (iii) the prescription has been continuously issued for no fewer than three months, and (iv) the prescriber performs an annual review of the patient to evaluate the drug's continued efficacy, changes in the patient's health status, and potential contraindications. The bill provides that this requirement does not prohibit a carrier from requiring prior authorization for any drug that is not listed on its prescription drug formulary at the time the initial prescription is issued. The bill also provides that such provider contracts contain provisions requiring a carrier to honor a prior authorization issued by the carrier for a drug regardless if the drug is removed from the carrier's prescription drug formulary after the initial prescription for that drug is issued. Under the bill, provisions related to provider contracts and prior authorization will apply to the state insurance health plan."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1269"
citation: "Virginia SB 1269 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeremy S. McPike"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/792cdbf2-501b-4e0e-b3f6-bec5ac2f90ce"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1269"
source_hash: "18ec974344f22261de2714f1956842cdf9088c149073203d48e98e1fb5c2dcff"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1269 (2021) — Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder.

Health insurance; authorization of drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder. Requires that any provider contract between a carrier and a participating health care provider with prescriptive authority, or its contracting agent, contain provisions that require, when a carrier has previously approved prior authorization for any drug prescribed for the treatment of a mental disorder listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, no additional prior authorization can be required if (i) the drug is a covered benefit, (ii) the prescription does not exceed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-labeled dosages, (iii) the prescription has been continuously issued for no fewer than three months, and (iv) the prescriber performs an annual review of the patient to evaluate the drug's continued efficacy, changes in the patient's health status, and potential contraindications. The bill provides that this requirement does not prohibit a carrier from requiring prior authorization for any drug that is not listed on its prescription drug formulary at the time the initial prescription is issued. The bill also provides that such provider contracts contain provisions requiring a carrier to honor a prior authorization issued by the carrier for a drug regardless if the drug is removed from the carrier's prescription drug formulary after the initial prescription for that drug is issued. Under the bill, provisions related to provider contracts and prior authorization will apply to the state insurance health plan.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0067** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0067)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103534D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1269S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101311D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1269)
4. **SB1269ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1269ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Labor and Commerce (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Labor and Commerce — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jeremy S. McPike — primary (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101311D `introduction`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (SB1269)
- **2021-01-25** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-25** Reported from Commerce and Labor with substitute (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25** Committee substitute printed 21103534D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-28** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-28** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-01-28** Committee substitute agreed to 21103534D-S1
- **2021-01-28** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1269S1
- **2021-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (SB1269S1)
- **2021-01-29** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Labor and Commerce
- **2021-02-11** Reported from Labor and Commerce (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-16** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-16** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-16** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-19** Enrolled
- **2021-02-19** Impact statement from DPB (SB1269ER)
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-24** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 24, 2021
- **2021-02-24** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 67 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/792cdbf2-501b-4e0e-b3f6-bec5ac2f90ce`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).