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HB1504 • 2026

Service member community members; medical care facilities, health care equity.

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 a section numbered 32.1-137.012, relating to service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity.

Children Healthcare
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
McQuinn
Last action
2026-04-08
Official status
Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not explicitly define 'service member', 'veteran', or 'service member community member' in the provided official summary text, but these definitions are included in the full bill text.

Health Care for Service Member Community Members

This act allows medical care facilities to screen patients for eligibility as service member community members and follow health equity standards set by The Joint Commission.

What This Bill Does

  • Defines who is a 'service member', 'veteran', and 'service member community member'.
  • Allows medical care facilities to check if patients are service member community members.
  • Requires medical care facilities to note in patient records whether they are service member community members.
  • Permits medical care facilities to treat service member community members as a vulnerable group and follow health equity standards.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Medical care facilities
  • Service members, veterans, their spouses, children, and stepchildren

Terms To Know

service member
A person who is part of the active or reserve military forces.
veteran
Someone who has served in the U.S. military and was discharged honorably.
service member community member
Includes service members, veterans, their spouses, children, and stepchildren.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how medical care facilities should screen patients.
  • It is unclear what specific actions medical care facilities must take to comply with health equity standards.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB1504AHC1

2026-02-11

Health and Human Services Amendment

Plain English: The amendment changes a specific line in the bill to include 'most recent' before an existing phrase.

  • Inserts 'most recent' before an associated phrase in the bill.
  • The provided text is incomplete and does not specify which exact phrase or context 'most recent' should be inserted with, making it unclear what specific change this amendment aims to make.
HB1504AHC2

2026-02-11 • Committee

Health Subcommittee Amendment

Plain English: The amendment changes a specific line in the bill to include 'most recent' before an existing phrase.

  • Inserts 'most recent' before an unspecified phrase starting at line 25 of the bill.
  • The exact context and meaning of this change are unclear without more information about what follows 'associated with the'.
HB1504AH1

2026-02-12 • Committee

Health and Human Services Amendment

Plain English: The amendment changes a specific line in the bill to include 'most recent' before an existing phrase.

  • Inserts 'most recent' into the text of the bill at a specified location.
  • The provided amendment text is incomplete and does not give enough context to fully understand its implications.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-08 Governor

    Approved by Governor-Chapter 474 (effective 7/1/2026)

  2. 2026-04-08 Governor

    Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0474)

  3. 2026-03-10 House

    Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026

  4. 2026-03-10 Governor

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026

  5. 2026-03-09 House

    Signed by Speaker

  6. 2026-03-09 Senate

    Signed by President

  7. 2026-03-09 House

    Enrolled

  8. 2026-03-09 House

    Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1504ER)

  9. 2026-03-09 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1504)

  10. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Read third time

  11. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  12. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Rules suspended

  13. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  14. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)

  15. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

  16. 2026-02-26 Education and Health

    Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)

  17. 2026-02-24 Health

    Assigned Education sub: Health

  18. 2026-02-18 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)

  19. 2026-02-18 Education and Health

    Referred to Committee on Education and Health

  20. 2026-02-17 House

    Read third time and passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A)

  21. 2026-02-17 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1504)

  22. 2026-02-16 House

    Read second time

  23. 2026-02-16 House

    committee amendment agreed to

  24. 2026-02-16 House

    Engrossed by House as amended

  25. 2026-02-15 House

    Read first time

  26. 2026-02-12 Health and Human Services

    Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) (21-Y 0-N)

  27. 2026-02-11 Health

    House subcommittee offered

  28. 2026-02-10 Health

    Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (8-Y 0-N)

  29. 2026-01-30 Health

    Assigned sub: Health

  30. 2026-01-26 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1504)

  31. 2026-01-23 House

    Presented and ordered printed 26104978D

  32. 2026-01-23 Health and Human Services

    Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services

Official Summary Text

Service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity.
Permits medical care facilities to screen each patient for information on their eligibility as a service member community member, as defined by the bill. The bill permits medical care facilities to identify service member community members as a vulnerable population and comply with the most recent health care equity standards published by The Joint Commission.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 a section numbered
32.1-137.012
, relating to service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 1 of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 a section numbered
32.1-137.012
as follows:
§
32.1-137.012
. Service member community members; health care equity.
A. For the purposes of this section:
"Service member" means an individual who is a member of the active or reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or Public Health Service of the United States.
"Service member community member" means a service member, a veteran, the spouse of a service member or veteran, the child of a service member or veteran, or the stepchild of a service member or veteran.
"Veteran" means a person who served in the active military, naval, air, or space service of the United States and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.
B. A medical care facility may screen each patient for information on the patient's eligibility as a service member community member and include in such patient's medical record whether the patient is a service member community member.
C. A medical care facility may identify service member community members as a vulnerable population and comply with the standards associated with the

most recent

National Patient Safety Goal to Improve Health Care Equity report published by The Joint Commission.