Despite the ice in Richmond, the General Assembly held committee meetings this week working through long dockets of bills.

• VHCA-VCAL weighed in during bill hearings and communicated with numerous legislators on measures affecting long term care.

Highlights of bills tracked by VHCA-VCAL.

Nursing Facility Legislation

Publicly accessible NF and ALF information portal: HB1116, which would codify the nursing facility information portal created under Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration and create a similar one for DSS for assisted living facilities (ALFs), was reported favorably by the health professions subcommittee of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee. The bill also contains language requiring nursing homes and ALFs to provide quarterly reports to VDH or DSS with information on incidents involving emergency medical services.

• VHCA-VCAL worked with the bill patron Del. May Nivar (D-Henrico) to get the bill in a favorable posture.

DARS study of quality of care in nursing facilities: The health professions subcommittee also recommended reporting HB 1357. The bill would direct the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive study of the quality of care, resident safety, and operational practices of nursing facilities in the Commonwealth.

• If the bill advances from the full HHS Committee, it will be referred to the House Appropriations Committee because it has a significant fiscal impact.

Other nursing facility bills:

• HB 605, the nursing some staffing standard bill has been assigned to the health professions subcommittee of the HHS Committee and awaits a hearing. As introduced the bill would create a 3.25 hours per resident day nursing facility staffing standard; VHCA-VCAL is advocating for the bill to be amended to have it match the widely supported staffing standard language passed in 2023 requiring 3.08 hours per resident day and aligned with the minimum threshold in the Medicaid Value-Based Purchasing Program for the Total Nursing Hours per Resident Day.

• There has been no change in the status of the change of operator bills backed by VHCA-VCAL since last week. SB 247 was reported unanimously by the Education and Health Committee and is awaiting consideration by the Finance and Appropriations Committee. HB 717 is still pending hearing the health subcommittee of the HHS Committee.

• HB 1104, which would have direct VDH to include validation of compliance with federal reporting requirements in its inspection process for certified nursing facilities, was stricken at the request of the patron, ending its consideration for the year. Del. Keith Hodges (R-Middlesex County) agreed to this action on his bill after VHCA-VCAL provided him with a detailed explanation of existing reporting requirements under federal regulations.

Assisted Living Legislation

For the most part there has been no change in status to the assisted living bills we covered in our January 22 update as the bills have not been heard in subcommittee or committee yet.

• Two bills, HB 1088, which would extend the notification period for an involuntary discharge from 30 days to 45 days and HB 297, which would set up requirements for resident referral agencies, are on the agenda for January 29 late afternoon meeting of the social services subcommittee of the HSS Committee.