An Act to amend and reenact § 32.1-325 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Department of Medical Assistance Services; state plan for medical assistance services; doula care.
HB838 amends Virginia’s Medicaid state plan statute, § 32.1-325, to add doula care as a covered component of medical assistance services. The bill is framed as a change to the Department of Medical Assistance Services’ authority and the contents of the state plan submitted to the federal government under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.
Although the provided text is truncated before the doula-specific language appears, the bill title and chapter enactment indicate that its central purpose is to require or authorize Medicaid coverage for doula services, likely in connection with pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum care. The amendment is part of a broader section of the Code that already governs a wide range of Medicaid eligibility and covered-services provisions.
The bill directly amends § 32.1-325 of the Code of Virginia, which governs the state Medicaid plan and the services and eligibility provisions that must be included in that plan. Its effect is to expand the state plan to address doula care, which would affect DMAS administration, Medicaid-covered maternity services, and the providers eligible to participate in delivering those services. Because the statute concerns the state plan submitted to federal authorities, implementation would also depend on federal Medicaid approval and matching requirements.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the supplied materials. The bill was enacted as Chapter 682 and approved on April 13, 2026, which indicates it ultimately received sufficient support to become law. Based on the subject matter, the bill appears to have been treated as a health coverage expansion rather than a contested structural change to Medicaid.
The supplied record does not identify specific points of contention, speakers, or amendments. In bills of this type, likely issues would include whether Medicaid should cover doula services, how providers would be certified or reimbursed, the fiscal impact on the Commonwealth, and whether the benefit should be limited to pregnancy-related care or extended more broadly. However, none of those concerns are documented in the materials provided here.