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HB64 • 2026

Health insurance; coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering.

<p class=ldtitle>A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-4319 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-3418.23, relating to health insurance; coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering.</p>

Healthcare
Enacted

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

Sponsor
Cole, J.G.
Last action
2026-02-18
Official status
Failed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The exact date of application is not specified in the official source material.

Health Insurance Coverage for Speech Therapy for Stuttering

This law requires health insurance plans that cover habilitative and rehabilitative services to also provide coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering without limits on the number of visits or medical necessity requirements.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires health insurance carriers with policies covering habilitative and rehabilitative services to include coverage for speech therapy to treat stuttering.
  • Removes any annual benefit limit, including visit limits, for speech-language pathologist visits.
  • Does not restrict coverage based on the cause of stuttering or require prior authorization for medically necessary speech therapy.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People with health insurance policies that cover habilitative and rehabilitative services.
  • Health insurance carriers providing such policies.

Terms To Know

Habilitative Services
Services that help a person keep, learn, or improve skills for daily living.
Rehabilitative Services
Services that help a person restore or improve lost or impaired skills and functioning for daily living.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not apply to short-term travel, accident-only policies, limited disease policies, Medicare plans, or similar governmental coverage.
  • The law's application may be delayed if it would require the Commonwealth to make payments under federal regulations.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-18 House

    Left in Committee Education

  2. 2026-02-18 House

    Left in Labor and Commerce

  3. 2026-01-20 Subcommittee #1

    Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (9-Y 0-N)

  4. 2026-01-19 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB64)

  5. 2026-01-15 Subcommittee #1

    Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #1

  6. 2025-12-30 House

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101186D

  7. 2025-12-30 Labor and Commerce

    Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

Official Summary Text

Health insurance; coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering.
Requires health insurance carriers whose health care plans include coverage for habilitative services and rehabilitative services, as such terms are defined in the bill, to provide coverage for habilitative speech therapy and rehabilitative speech therapy, as such terms are defined in the bill, as a treatment for stuttering. The bill provides that such coverage is not (i) subject to any maximum annual benefit limit, including any limits on the number of visits an insured may make to a speech-language pathologist; (ii) limited based on the type of disease, injury, disorder, or other medical condition that resulted in the stuttering; or (iii) subject to utilization review or utilization management requirements, including prior authorization or a determination that the habilitative or rehabilitative speech therapy services are medically necessary. The bill applies to health care plans delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after January 1, 2027.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A BILL to amend and reenact §
38.2-4319
of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
38.2-3418.23
, relating to health insurance; coverage for speech therapy as a treatment for stuttering.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §
38.2-4319
of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
38.2-3418.23
as follows:

§
38.2-3418.2
3
. Coverage for
speech therapy
as a treatment for stuttering
.

A. As used in this section:

"Habilitative services" means health care services that help a person keep, learn, or improve skills and functioning for daily living.

"
Habilitative speech therapy
" means
speech therapy that helps a person keep, learn, or improve skills and functioning for daily living
.

"Rehabilitative services" means health care services that help a person restore or improve skills and functioning for daily living that have been lost or impaired.

"
Rehabilitative speech therapy
"
means
speech therapy that helps a person restore or improve skills and functioning for daily living that have been lost or impaired
.

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of §
38.2-3419
, subdivision A 1 of §
38.2-6506
, or any other provision of law
, each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; each corporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and each health maintenance organization providing a health care plan for health care services
whose policy, contract, or plan, including any certificate or evidence of coverage issued in connection with such policy, contract, or plan, includes coverage for habilitative and rehabilitative
s
er
vic
es
shall provide coverage for
habilitative speech therapy

as a treatment for stuttering
, regardless of whether the stuttering is classified as developmental,
and rehabilitative speech therapy
as a treatment for stuttering
.

C.
The coverage required by subsection B shall not be
(i)
subject to any
maximum annual benefit limit, including any limits on the number of visits an insured may make to a speech-language pathologist; (ii) limited based on the type of disease, injury, disorder, or other medical condition that resulted in the stuttering; or (iii) subject to utilization review or utilization management requirements, including prior authorization or a determination that the
habilitative or rehabilitative
speech therapy services are medically necessary
.

D
. The provisions of this section shall not apply to short-term travel, accident-only,
or
limited or specified disease policies, or contracts designed for issuance to persons eligible for coverage under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, known as Medicare, or any other similar coverage under state or federal governmental plans or to short-term nonrenewable policies of not more than six months' duration.

E
.
If the provisions of this section would result in a determination that the
Commonwealth

is required to
make payments to defray the cost of the
coverage required by this section as
required under 42 U.S.C.
§

18031

and 45 C.F.R.
§
155.170, as amended, then
the

provisions of this section
shall not apply until the cost defrayal requirement is no longer applicable.

§
38.2-4319
. Statutory construction and relationship to other laws.

A. No provisions of this title except this chapter and, insofar as they are not inconsistent with this chapter, §§
38.2-100
,
38.2-136
,
38.2-200
,
38.2-203
,
38.2-209
through
38.2-213
,
38.2-216
,
38.2-218
through
38.2-225
,
38.2-229
,
38.2-232
,
38.2-305
,
38.2-316
,
38.2-316.1
,
38.2-316.2
,
38.2-322
,
38.2-325
,
38.2-326
,
38.2-400
,
38.2-402
through
38.2-413
,
38.2-500
through
38.2-515
,
38.2-600
through
38.2-629
, Chapter 9 (§
38.2-900
et seq.), §§
38.2-1016.1
through
38.2-1023
,
38.2-1057
, and
38.2-1306.1
, Article 2 (§
38.2-1306.2
et seq.), §
38.2-1315.1
, and Articles 3.1 (§
38.2-1316.1
et seq.), 4 (§
38.2-1317
et seq.), 5 (§
38.2-1322
et seq.), 5.1 (§
38.2-1334.3
et seq.), and 5.2 (§
38.2-1334.11
et seq.) of Chapter 13, Articles 1 (§
38.2-1400
et seq.), 2 (§
38.2-1412
et seq.), and 4 (§
38.2-1446
et seq.) of Chapter 14, Chapter 15 (§
38.2-1500
et seq.), Chapter 17 (§
38.2-1700
et seq.), §§
38.2-1800
through
38.2-1836
,
38.2-3401
,
38.2-3405
,
38.2-3405.1
,
38.2-3406.1
,
38.2-3407.2
through
38.2-3407.6:1
,
38.2-3407.9
through
38.2-3407.20
,
38.2-3411
,
38.2-3411.2
,
38.2-3411.3
,
38.2-3411.4
,
38.2-3412.1
,
38.2-3414.1
,
38.2-3418.1
through
38.2-3418.19
,
38.2-3418.21
,
38.2-3418.22
,

38.2-3418.23
,

38.2-3419.1
, and
38.2-3430.1
through
38.2-3454
, Articles 8 (§
38.2-3461
et seq.) and 9 (§
38.2-3465
et seq.) of Chapter 34, §
38.2-3500
, subdivision 13 of §
38.2-3503
, subdivision 8 of §
38.2-3504
, §§
38.2-3514.1
,
38.2-3514.2
,
38.2-3522.1
through
38.2-3523.4
,
38.2-3525
,
38.2-3540.1
,
38.2-3540.2
,
38.2-3541.2
,
38.2-3542
, and
38.2-3543.2
, Article 5 (§
38.2-3551
et seq.) of Chapter 35, Chapter 35.1 (§
38.2-3556
et seq.), §
38.2-3610
, Chapter 52 (§
38.2-5200
et seq.), Chapter 55 (§
38.2-5500
et seq.), Chapter 58 (§
38.2-5800
et seq.), Chapter 65 (§
38.2-6500
et seq.), and Chapter 66 (§
38.2-6600
et seq.) shall be applicable to any health maintenance organization granted a license under this chapter. This chapter shall not apply to an insurer or health services plan licensed and regulated in conformance with the insurance laws or Chapter 42 (§
38.2-4200
et seq.) except with respect to the activities of its health maintenance organization.

B. For plans administered by the Department of Medical Assistance Services that provide benefits pursuant to Title XIX or Title XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended, no provisions of this title except this chapter and, insofar as they are not inconsistent with this chapter, §§
38.2-100
,
38.2-136
,
38.2-200
,
38.2-203
,
38.2-209
through
38.2-213
,
38.2-216
,
38.2-218
through
38.2-225
,
38.2-229
,
38.2-232
,
38.2-322
,
38.2-325
,
38.2-400
,
38.2-402
through
38.2-413
,
38.2-500
through
38.2-515
, and
38.2-600
through
38.2-629
, Chapter 9 (§
38.2-900
et seq.), §§
38.2-1016.1
through
38.2-1023
,
38.2-1057
, and
38.2-1306.1
, Article 2 (§
38.2-1306.2
et seq.), §
38.2-1315.1
, Articles 3.1 (§
38.2-1316.1
et seq.), 4 (§
38.2-1317
et seq.), 5 (§
38.2-1322
et seq.), 5.1 (§
38.2-1334.3
et seq.), and 5.2 (§
38.2-1334.11
et seq.) of Chapter 13, Articles 1 (§
38.2-1400
et seq.), 2 (§
38.2-1412
et seq.), and 4 (§
38.2-1446
et seq.) of Chapter 14, §§
38.2-3401
,
38.2-3405
,
38.2-3407.2
through
38.2-3407.5
,
38.2-3407.6
,
38.2-3407.6:1
,
38.2-3407.9
,
38.2-3407.9:01
, and
38.2-3407.9:02
, subsection E of §
38.2-3407.10
, §§
38.2-3407.10:1
,
38.2-3407.11
,
38.2-3407.11:3
,
38.2-3407.13
,
38.2-3407.13:1
,
38.2-3407.14
,
38.2-3411.2
,
38.2-3418.1
,
38.2-3418.2
,
38.2-3418.16
,
38.2-3419.1
,
38.2-3430.1
through
38.2-3437
, and
38.2-3500
, subdivision 13 of §
38.2-3503
, subdivision 8 of §
38.2-3504
, §§
38.2-3514.1
,
38.2-3514.2
,
38.2-3522.1
through
38.2-3523.4
,
38.2-3525
,
38.2-3540.1
,
38.2-3540.2
,
38.2-3541.2
,
38.2-3542
, and
38.2-3543.2
, Chapter 52 (§
38.2-5200
et seq.), Chapter 55 (§
38.2-5500
et seq.), Chapter 58 (§
38.2-5800
et seq.), Chapter 65 (§
38.2-6500
et seq.), and Chapter 66 (§
38.2-6600
et seq.) shall be applicable to any health maintenance organization granted a license under this chapter. This chapter shall not apply to an insurer or health services plan licensed and regulated in conformance with the insurance laws or Chapter 42 (§
38.2-4200
et seq.) except with respect to the activities of its health maintenance organization.

C. Solicitation of enrollees by a licensed health maintenance organization or by its representatives shall not be construed to violate any provisions of law relating to solicitation or advertising by health professionals.

D. A licensed health maintenance organization shall not be deemed to be engaged in the unlawful practice of medicine. All health care providers associated with a health maintenance organization shall be subject to all provisions of law.

E. Notwithstanding the definition of an eligible employee as set forth in §
38.2-3431
, a health maintenance organization providing health care plans pursuant to §
38.2-3431
shall not be required to offer coverage to or accept applications from an employee who does not reside within the health maintenance organization's service area.

F. For purposes of applying this section, "insurer" when used in a section cited in subsections A and B shall be construed to mean and include "health maintenance organizations" unless the section cited clearly applies to health maintenance organizations without such construction.

2. That the provisions of this act shall apply to any individual or group accident and sickness insurance policy, individual or group accident and sickness subscription contract, or health care plan for health care services delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in the Commonwealth on and after January 1, 2027.