HB 548 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Uniform Health Care Decisions Act; civil penalty.

Summary

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 8.01-413.01, 8.01-622.1, 18.2-369, 32.1-127, 32.1-127.1:03, 32.1-138.1, 32.1-162.16, 32.1-162.18, 32.1-291.21, 32.1-309.1, 32.1-325, 37.2-804.2, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 37.2-805.1, 37.2-817.01, 37.2-817.1, 37.2-837, 37.2-838, 37.2-1101, 37.2-1108, 53.1-133.04, 54.1-2807.02, 54.1-2818.1, 54.1-2818.5, 54.1-2970.1, 54.1-2987.1, 54.1-2988.1, 54.1-2993.1, 54.1-2995, 63.2-501, 63.2-1605, 64.2-2000, 64.2-2002, 64.2-2003, 64.2-2009, and 64.2-2019 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 29 of Title 54.1 an article numbered 8.1, consisting of sections numbered 54.1-2993.2 through 54.1-2993.31; and to repeal §§ 54.1-2981, 54.1-2982, 54.1-2983, 54.1-2983.2 through 54.1-2987, 54.1-2988, and 54.1-2989 through 54.1-2993 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Uniform Health Care Decisions Act; civil penalty.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 11, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Courts of Justice Substitute → Criminal Subcommittee Substitute · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended from a Courts of Justice Substitute to a Criminal Subcommittee Substitute, primarily involving formatting and structural changes to the document layout. The substantive legislative content regarding the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act and related healthcare provisions remains unchanged in terms of policy, scope, or requirements. The amendment appears to be a procedural revision rather than a substantive policy change.

TECHNICAL

Document formatting and layout were adjusted, including header information, spacing, and page numbering. The bill title and committee designation were updated from 'Courts of Justice Substitute' to 'Criminal Subcommittee Substitute'.

Line breaks and paragraph spacing were reorganized throughout the document, particularly in the introductory sections and bill text formatting.

Introduced → Courts of Justice Substitute · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill amends and reenacts multiple Virginia Code sections related to health care decisions, assisted suicide, medical bills, and facility regulations. The primary change is the repeal of the old Uniform Health Care Decisions Act (54.1-2981 through 54.1-2993) and its replacement with a new Article 8.1 (54.1-2993.2 through 54.1-2993.31). This modernizes advance health care planning, clarifies capacity determinations, and establishes new default surrogate priorities.

Scope change

The scope of the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act was significantly updated by replacing the old statutory framework with new provisions that expand definitions, clarify capacity standards, and establish a more detailed default surrogate hierarchy. The assisted suicide injunction provisions remain substantively unchanged but are now cross-referenced to the new article.

DEFINITION

Replaced the old Uniform Health Care Decisions Act (54.1-2981 through 54.1-2993) with new Article 8.1 (54.1-2993.2 through 54.1-2993.31), which modernizes definitions for advance health care directives, capacity, agents, and default surrogates.

Added new definition for 'default surrogate' establishing a priority hierarchy for individuals who can make health care decisions when no agent is appointed, including identification of an individual by the patient, spouse, adult children, parents, domestic partners, siblings, and others.

REQUIREMENT

Added new capacity determination standards requiring findings to be made by qualified professionals (physicians, psychologists, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, or licensed clinical social workers) and established a rebuttable presumption of capacity.

Added new provisions for physical evidence recovery kit examinations for sexual assault victims who lack capacity, allowing licensed medical personnel to proceed without consent when necessary to preserve evidence.

Added new requirements for hospitals to establish workplace violence incident reporting systems, including documentation, tracking, analysis, and annual reporting to the Department with protections against retaliation for reporting.

ENFORCEMENT

Modified assisted suicide injunction provisions to clarify that they do not limit the new Uniform Health Care Decisions Act and explicitly exempt providers who administer pain medication or withdraw life-prolonging procedures in accordance with advance directives.

TIMELINE

Modified effective dates for certain provisions, with some hospital security and disclosure requirements transitioning from effective until July 1, 2026 to effective July 1, 2026.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

51–33

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 87

Feb 17, 2026

D Democratic52

51 Yea 1

98% Yea

R Republican35

33 Nay 2

94% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate committee offered

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N)

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate committee offered

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (62-Y 34-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 6-N)

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Committee

Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors