Fabio
126 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
126 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Mental health & substance abuse disorders; network adequacy standards, comparative analyses, report."
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description: "Mental health and substance abuse disorders; network adequacy standards; comparative analyses; report; emergency regulations. Directs the Department of Health to issue regulations that include quantitative network adequacy standards for timely access to care, travel time, and geographical distance that are at least as stringent as those imposed for qualified health plans and qualified dental plans. The bill amends the definitions of \"mental health services\" and \"substance abuse services\" for the purposes of health insurance coverage.The bill requires health carriers to submit all comparative analyses prepared pursuant to federal law to the Bureau of Insurance on the date and frequency as specified by the Bureau and includes additional information to include in such submission. Under the bill, the Bureau may impose a penalty not to exceed $100,000 for a noncompliant or insufficient comparative analysis or require a carrier to remove, revise, or remedy noncompliant treatment limitations. The bill also amends the contents of the annual report submitted by the Bureau to the General Assembly to cover enforcement efforts with respect to the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.The bill authorizes the Bureau to promulgate regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of the bill and directs the Department of Health to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill directs the Department of Human Resource Management to evaluate the impact of the proposed changes to the provisions of the bill related to health insurance. The provisions of the bill related to health insurance have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 656."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2026"
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identifier: "SB 524"
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citation: "Virginia SB 524 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["R. Creigh Deeds"]
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version_count: 7
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action_count: 53
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vote_count: 11
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first_action: "2026-01-13"
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last_action: "2026-04-13"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fbde391c-e96f-4e22-ab5e-0909b50f08b9"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB524"
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source_hash: "7020a2dd2c2af30223578d6253cc0e93ba7bd0f483c10ef37863c118a0e2a122"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia SB 524 (2026) — Mental health & substance abuse disorders; network adequacy standards, comparative analyses, report.
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Mental health and substance abuse disorders; network adequacy standards; comparative analyses; report; emergency regulations. Directs the Department of Health to issue regulations that include quantitative network adequacy standards for timely access to care, travel time, and geographical distance that are at least as stringent as those imposed for qualified health plans and qualified dental plans. The bill amends the definitions of "mental health services" and "substance abuse services" for the purposes of health insurance coverage.The bill requires health carriers to submit all comparative analyses prepared pursuant to federal law to the Bureau of Insurance on the date and frequency as specified by the Bureau and includes additional information to include in such submission. Under the bill, the Bureau may impose a penalty not to exceed $100,000 for a noncompliant or insufficient comparative analysis or require a carrier to remove, revise, or remedy noncompliant treatment limitations. The bill also amends the contents of the annual report submitted by the Bureau to the General Assembly to cover enforcement efforts with respect to the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.The bill authorizes the Bureau to promulgate regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of the bill and directs the Department of Health to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill directs the Department of Human Resource Management to evaluate the impact of the proposed changes to the provisions of the bill related to health insurance. The provisions of the bill related to health insurance have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 656.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090690.PDF)
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2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1221609.PDF)
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3. **Conference Report** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1208810.HTML)
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4. **Education and Health Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132290.PDF)
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5. **Finance and Appropriations Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1148518.PDF)
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6. **Health and Human Services Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1178044.PDF)
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7. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213812.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 3rd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Passage R — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Accede Conference Committee R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Education and Health with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **92–4** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **93–1** (pass) · lower
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- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **35–0** (pass) · upper
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- Adopt Conference Committee Report R — **38–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute — **13–0** (pass) · upper
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- Concur House Substitute R — **0–40** (fail) · upper
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- Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute — **21–0** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- R. Creigh Deeds — primary (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102638D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-27** Assigned Education sub: Health `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-03** Senate subcommittee offered
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- **2026-02-05** Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-05** Senate committee offered
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- **2026-02-05** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB524)
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- **2026-02-06** Committee substitute printed 26107207D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-12** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (35-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-13** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB524)
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- **2026-02-13** Passed by for the day
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- **2026-02-13** Committee substitute printed 26107859D-S2 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-16** Education and Health Substitute rejected
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- **2026-02-16** Finance and Appropriations Substitute agreed to
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- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-16** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 3rd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-16** Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (39-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-17** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB524)
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- **2026-02-19** Placed on Calendar
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- **2026-02-19** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-19** Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-24** Reported from Health and Human Services with substitute (21-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-24** Committee substitute printed 26108521D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-25** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB524)
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- **2026-02-26** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-02-27** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
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- **2026-02-27** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-02-27** Passed House with substitute (92-Y 4-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-03** House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-04** House insisted on substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-04** House requested conference committee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-06** Senate acceded to request (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-06** Conferees appointed by Senate
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- **2026-03-06** Senate Conferees: Deeds, Favola, Pillion
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- **2026-03-11** Conferees appointed by House
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- **2026-03-11** House Conferees: Willett, Gardner, Cherry
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- **2026-03-12** Conference Report released
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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-13** Conference report agreed to by House (93-Y 1-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB524ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB524)
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- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 653 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0653)
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fbde391c-e96f-4e22-ab5e-0909b50f08b9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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