An Act to amend and reenact § 38.2-508 of the Code of Virginia, relating to life insurance; health insurance; unfair discrimination; pre-exposure prophylaxis for prevention of human immunodeficiency virus.
HB60 amends Virginia’s insurance unfair-discrimination statute, § 38.2-508, to add a new protection related to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for prevention of HIV. The bill is framed as an amendment to the state’s rules governing life insurance and health insurance underwriting, pricing, renewals, coverage decisions, and related terms and conditions. In practical terms, it appears intended to prevent insurers from treating a person’s use of PrEP as a basis for unfair discrimination in insurance decisions.
The bill also retains and restates the broader anti-discrimination framework already in Virginia insurance law, which prohibits unfair discrimination based on factors such as life expectancy, hazard class, blindness, physical or mental impairment, geographic location, age of residential property, and domestic violence status. The text suggests the new PrEP-related provision is being added within that existing structure rather than creating a separate regulatory scheme. Because the bill amends a core insurance statute, its effect is statewide and applies to insurers and insurance professionals operating in Virginia across the covered lines of insurance.
The overall sentiment reflected by the bill’s enactment is supportive and protective, with the measure ultimately approved as Chapter 12. Even without committee transcripts or recorded votes, the bill’s placement in the anti-discrimination section and its focus on access to coverage indicate a consumer-protection orientation. The legislation appears designed to reduce barriers for people using HIV prevention medication and to ensure that such use does not lead to adverse insurance treatment.
The main point of potential contention is the balance between anti-discrimination protections and insurer underwriting discretion. Insurers may be concerned about limits on their ability to assess risk or set premiums based on medical factors, while supporters would emphasize that PrEP use should not be treated as a negative risk marker. More generally, the bill sits within a broader policy debate over how insurance law should protect individuals with health-related characteristics while still allowing actuarially sound underwriting practices.
HB60 amends § 38.2-508 of the Code of Virginia, which governs unfair discrimination in life and health insurance and related insurance lines. The bill’s legal effect is to expand and clarify the state’s anti-discrimination rules by adding protections tied to PrEP use for HIV prevention, while leaving the existing prohibitions on unfair discrimination based on other characteristics in place. It affects insurers, insurance agents, and insurance professionals by limiting how they may use certain health-related information in underwriting, pricing, renewals, coverage scope, and claims decisions.
The available context suggests a generally favorable and consumer-protection-oriented sentiment around the bill. The measure was enacted as Chapter 12, indicating it advanced successfully through the legislative process. Its focus on preventing unfair discrimination in insurance for people using HIV prevention medication aligns with a public-health and access-to-coverage rationale, and there is no recorded committee or floor opposition in the provided materials.
The likely area of contention is whether insurers should be restricted from considering PrEP use in underwriting and pricing decisions. Supporters would view the bill as preventing stigma and ensuring access to insurance for people taking preventive medication, while opponents or cautious stakeholders may argue that it constrains actuarial underwriting and could affect risk assessment. More broadly, the bill reflects the recurring tension in insurance regulation between civil-rights-style protections and insurer discretion to differentiate based on risk.