This week at the General Assembly session, committees were busy hearing legislation as the bill filing deadline passed last week.

• VHCA-VCAL’s priority bills on LTSS Screening and medication aides have advanced in a favorable posture.
• Legislation on nursing facility licensure was carried over for the year, and a similar recommendation was made for a bill related to professional liability insurance coverage.

Highlights of bills tracked by VHCA-VCAL.

Expansion of LTSS screenings that can be conducted by nursing facility screening teams – HB 291 and SB 24 are advancing in identical form. HB 291 passed the House of Delegates on a 98-0 vote, while the Education and Health Committee unanimously passed the Senate version.

• The bills will remove the need for a hospital patient to have an LTSS Screening if the individual is being discharged to a nursing facility for skilled nursing care.

• In addition, for an individual still living in their home, the legislation will also allow community assessment teams to coordinate with the nursing facility screening team at the individual’s preferred nursing facility in order to perform the assessment more expeditiously and allow the individual to receive the needed LTSS Screening without unnecessary delays due to community screening team backlogs.

Developing a regulatory pathway for medication aides to administer drugs at certified nursing facilities – HB 349, which directs the Board of Nursing (BON) to create a workgroup to determine the educational requirements and criteria to be used to enable advanced registered medication aides to administer drugs to residents in certified nursing facilities, was reported on a 21-1 vote by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee.

Nursing home licensure application requirements: HB 1063 was continued to 2025 by the Health and Human Services committee, effectively ending its consideration for the current session. VHCA-VCAL had significant concerns with the bill, which would have required applications for a nursing home license to provide detailed information on ownership interests, pending litigation, real property, the financial history of persons mentioned in the application, and more.

• The legislation duplicates requirements in the CMS final rule on transparency requirements for ownership, disclosable parties and public reporting, components of the Requirements of Participation, and existing VDH Office of Licensure and Certification licensure disclosure requirements.

Change in the sanctions for noncompliance with the nursing facility minimum staffing standards – Del. Vivian Watts, a longtime supporter of nursing facility staffing requirements introduced HB 886, which would change the implementation timeline and sanctions for noncompliance approved as part of the 2023 nursing facility staffing standard.

• VHCA-VCAL has communicated our opposition to the bill to Del. Watts and explained that it would be impossible to move from annual enforcement to quarterly enforcement of the staffing requirement because the mandated ratio is based on an annual calculation of total nurse staffing.
• The bill has been referred to the health subcommittee of the HHS Committee.

Professional liability insurance for nursing facilities – Sen. Mark Obenshain requested that the Senate Education and Health Committee’s subcommittee make a recommendation to pass by SB 579. Sen. Obenshain made this request with the understanding that VHCA-VCAL would work with him outside of session to explore issues around nursing facilities’ professional liability coverage.

• The subcommittee agreed unanimously with Sen. Obenshain’s request. The bill awaits action by the full Senate Education and Health Committee.

Electronic monitoring in resident rooms – SB 661, which would give residents of nursing facilities the right to place electronic monitoring devices in their rooms, has been assigned to the Education and Health Committee for a hearing.

• VHCA-VCAL opposes the bill because existing VDH regulations address electronic monitoring. VHCA-VCAL has discussed these concerns with the bill patron, Sen. Christie New Craig (R-Chesapeake) and has provided her with the current regulatory language.

Repeal of the medical malpractice cap for patients under age 10 – VHCA-VCAL has joined a large coalition of health care providers to oppose SB 493 which would eliminate the applicability of Virginia’s medical malpractice cap for any actions against a health care provider treating a patient aged 10 or younger.

• The bill has been referred to the Committee for Courts of Justice and awaits a hearing.

Other bills: VHCA-VCAL is monitoring numerous other bills on topics ranging from an increase in the minimum wage, paid leave requirements, certificate of public need changes, prohibition of the use of temporary detention orders for individuals with neurocognitive impairments, and more.

• VHCA-VCAL’s lobbying team will give a broader update during the Legislative Conference next week.