Richmond, VA — Virginia House Democrats passed a package of legislation focused on lowering healthcare costs and increasing transparency and efficiency.
“Far too many Virginians are unable to afford their life-saving medicines and get access to the care they need,” said Sydney Steinberg, Deputy Communications Director for the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. “Building an affordable Virginia is a top priority for House Democrats, and the commonsense bills passed today will lower healthcare costs and increase transparency – making it easier for Virginians to receive quality, affordable healthcare.”
Lowering Healthcare Costs
- HB625 (Del. Rozia Henson) lowers prescription drug costs for Virginians by requiring many health insurance plans to cap out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses, improving affordability and access to essential medications.
- HB1214 (Del. Karrie Delaney) lowers the cost of insulin from $50 to $35 for a 30-day supply, as well as establishes an aggregate cap of $35 for a 30-day supply of diabetes equipment and supplies.
Increasing Transparency and Efficiency
- HB484 (Del. Irene Shin) protects patients and health care providers from unfair AI-driven insurance claim downcoding, ensuring patients and health care providers are receiving full coverage from health carriers.
- HB618 (Del. Irene Shin) streamlines the Bureau of Insurance data collection and reporting processes to improve the accessibility of essential information and bring transparency to health insurance plans.
- HB676 (Del. Michelle Maldonado) is a healthcare modernization bill that allows providers to submit information electronically to health insurance carriers. It also requires carriers to provide fee-free payment alternatives with any of their payment methods that carry transaction fees.
- HB701 (Del. Michelle Maldonado) increases transparency in healthcare by creating a new requirement for health insurance carriers to provide written notice of adverse determinations to patients and their right to an external review shortly thereafter.
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