HB 696 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Medicaid and HHS Adjust./Other Critical Needs.

HB 696, the Health Care Practitioner Transparency Act, requires health care providers in North Carolina to clearly state their license type, certification, or registration in all advertisements and public representations. It prohibits deceptive claims about qualifications and bans unlicensed individuals from using medical titles like "doctor," "surgeon," or specialty terms (e.g., "cardiologist") to mislead patients. The law applies to licensed professionals (doctors, nurses, dentists, etc.) who advertise services, but exempts those in non-patient settings without direct care interactions. Violations could lead to disciplinary action by their licensing board, with daily noncompliance treated as separate offenses. The bill takes effect October 1, 2025.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2025

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Apr 2, 2025 Signed Apr 30, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

Ratified → SL 2026-1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was finalized and reclassified from a 'Ratified Bill' to 'Session Law 2026-1,' indicating it has officially become part of the state code. The version number was updated from v-4 to v-5, and the document's page header was adjusted to reflect its new legal status and the 2026 session year.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains unchanged; only its legal status and versioning were updated to reflect ratification.

TECHNICAL

The document title changed from 'Ratified Bill' to 'Session Law 2026-1' to signify the bill is now active law.

The version identifier was updated from 'H696-v-4' to 'H696-v-5' to track the final legislative iteration.

The page header was updated to display the new 'Session Law 2026-1' designation alongside the bill number.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 28, 2026 · House Apr 28, 2026

How they voted

51–8

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 61

Apr 28, 2026

D Democratic26

17 Yea 8 Nay 1

65% Yea

R Republican35

34 Yea 1

97% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 30, 2026

Signed into law

Signed by Gov. 4/30/2026

executive

Apr 28, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conf Report Adopted 3rd

lower

Apr 22, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conf Report Passed 2nd

upper

Apr 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conf Report Adopted 2nd

lower

Jun 23, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Jun 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

upper

Jun 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav

upper

Jun 17, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Jun 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Com Substitute Adopted

upper

Jun 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

upper

May 27, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to Health Care. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

May 7, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

May 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

May 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Committee

Serial Referral To Regulatory Reform Stricken

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Health, if favorable, Regulatory Reform, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

2 primary · 3 co-sponsors