A BILL to amend and reenact § 32.1-137.05 of the Code of Virginia, relating to hospitals; itemized statements; non-emergent procedures, tests, or services.
HB1209 amends Virginia law governing hospital price transparency and patient billing. It keeps the existing requirement that hospitals publish machine-readable lists of standard charges on their websites, and it continues to require hospitals to provide advance payment estimates for elective procedures, tests, or services when requested at least three days before the scheduled date.
The bill’s main new requirement is that hospitals must give every patient who receives a non-emergent procedure, test, or service an itemized statement of charges, even if no bill has been or will be sent to an insurer or to the Department of Medical Assistance Services. The statement must be provided within 30 days of service or discharge, whichever is later, and must include detailed line items, billing codes, adjustments, remaining balance, dispute information, and notice of rights under the federal No Surprises Act and Virginia balance-billing protections.
If enacted, HB1209 would expand § 32.1-137.05 of the Code of Virginia by imposing a more specific and broader itemized-statement obligation on hospitals for non-emergent care. It would affect hospital billing practices, patient access to charge information, and compliance procedures for facilities that provide elective or non-emergency services, while also reinforcing references to federal surprise-billing protections and state complaint processes.
The available record shows no committee debate or recorded votes, and the bill was left in the House Committee on Health and Human Services. Based on the text alone, the measure appears consumer- and patient-protection oriented, with a focus on transparency and billing clarity rather than restricting hospital operations.
No explicit points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern, based on the bill’s requirements, would likely involve hospitals’ administrative burden, the cost and timing of generating detailed itemized statements, and how the new state requirement interacts with existing insurer billing workflows and federal No Surprises Act obligations.