republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1290.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation definitions."
description: "Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation. Provides that no person is authorized to provide pharmacy benefits management services or otherwise act as a pharmacy benefits manager without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission. The measure prohibits a carrier on its own or through its contracted pharmacy benefits manager or representative of a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) causing or knowingly permitting the use of any advertisement, promotion, solicitation, representation, proposal, or offer that is untrue; (ii) charging a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee related to the adjudication of a claim other than a reasonable fee for an initial claim submission; (iii) reimbursing a pharmacy or pharmacist an amount less than the amount that the pharmacy benefits manager reimburses a pharmacy benefits manager affiliate for providing the same pharmacist services, calculated on a per-unit basis using the same generic product identifier or generic code number and reflecting all drug manufacturer's rebates, direct and indirect administrative fees, and costs and any remuneration; or (iv) penalizing or retaliating against a pharmacist or pharmacy for exercising rights provided by this measure. The measure also prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing provider accreditation standards or certification requirements inconsistent with, more stringent than, or in addition to requirements of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy or other state or federal entity; (b) including any mail order pharmacy or pharmacy benefits manager affiliate in calculating or determining network adequacy; or (c) conducting spread pricing in the Commonwealth. The measure also imposes recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2020. This bill incorporates HB 1292, HB 1459, HB 1479, and HB 1659 and is identical to SB 251."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1290"
citation: "Virginia HB 1290 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["M. Keith Hodges"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 33
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-03-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e045b02d-a6e6-4e34-b638-ea95275ef80e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1290"
source_hash: "64bc3f9a61cc83e90fb865c20510ac8f2f5b064d0b7e16f12173055334c11a41"
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 HB 1290 (2020) — Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation definitions.

Pharmacy benefits managers; licensure and regulation. Provides that no person is authorized to provide pharmacy benefits management services or otherwise act as a pharmacy benefits manager without first obtaining a license from the State Corporation Commission. The measure prohibits a carrier on its own or through its contracted pharmacy benefits manager or representative of a pharmacy benefits manager from (i) causing or knowingly permitting the use of any advertisement, promotion, solicitation, representation, proposal, or offer that is untrue; (ii) charging a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee related to the adjudication of a claim other than a reasonable fee for an initial claim submission; (iii) reimbursing a pharmacy or pharmacist an amount less than the amount that the pharmacy benefits manager reimburses a pharmacy benefits manager affiliate for providing the same pharmacist services, calculated on a per-unit basis using the same generic product identifier or generic code number and reflecting all drug manufacturer's rebates, direct and indirect administrative fees, and costs and any remuneration; or (iv) penalizing or retaliating against a pharmacist or pharmacy for exercising rights provided by this measure. The measure also prohibits a carrier from (a) imposing provider accreditation standards or certification requirements inconsistent with, more stringent than, or in addition to requirements of the Virginia Board of Pharmacy or other state or federal entity; (b) including any mail order pharmacy or pharmacy benefits manager affiliate in calculating or determining network adequacy; or (c) conducting spread pricing in the Commonwealth. The measure also imposes recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2020. This bill incorporates HB 1292, HB 1459, HB 1479, and HB 1659 and is identical to SB 251.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0219)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0219)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1290ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1290ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1290H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1290H1)
4. **Impact statement from SCC (HB1290)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1290)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) — **37–3** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- M. Keith Hodges — primary (person)
- Christopher T. Head — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Les R. Adams — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103195D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-22** Impact statement from SCC (HB1290)
- **2020-01-30** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N)
- **2020-02-04** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-04** Committee substitute printed 20107170D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-04** Incorporates HB1292 (Hodges)
- **2020-02-04** Incorporates HB1659 (Head)
- **2020-02-04** Incorporates HB1459 (O'Quinn)
- **2020-02-04** Incorporates HB1479 (Samirah)
- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Passed by temporarily
- **2020-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 20107170D-H1
- **2020-02-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1290H1
- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-11** Impact statement from SCC (HB1290H1)
- **2020-02-17** Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-20** Passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled
- **2020-02-25** Impact statement from SCC (HB1290ER)
- **2020-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-26** Signed by President
- **2020-03-03** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 3, 2020
- **2020-03-03** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 219 (effective - see bill) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e045b02d-a6e6-4e34-b638-ea95275ef80e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).