Item 288 | First Year - FY2027 | Second Year - FY2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation of Professions and Occupations (56000) | $53,111,601 | $53,111,601 |
| Technical Assistance to Regulatory Boards (56044) | FY2027 $53,111,601 | FY2028 $53,111,601 |
| Fund Sources: | ||
| Special | FY2027 $575,000 | FY2028 $575,000 |
| Trust and Agency | FY2027 $1,688,791 | FY2028 $1,688,791 |
| Dedicated Special Revenue | FY2027 $50,847,810 | FY2028 $50,847,810 |
Authority: Title 54.1, Chapter 25, Code of Virginia.
A. The Board of Counseling shall promulgate regulations that align with the regulations adopted by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services for peer recovery specialist-trainees in accordance with this Act. The department shall have the authority to promulgate emergency regulations to implement these changes within 280 days or less from the enactment of this Act.
B.1. The Department of Health Professions (DHP) shall provide the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) a useable electronic file (CSV, Excel spreadsheet) with record-level, de-identified data collected via the most recent license renewal period for each individual licensed behavioral health (BH) professional practicing in Virginia as a psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatrist, psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, psychiatric physician assistant, licensed clinical social worker, licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical psychologist and, if available, licensed marriage and family therapist.
2. The following specific data fields shall be provided to VHCF for each licensee: unique record identifier; birthyear; race and ethnicity; gender; practice site information (each locality of practice; number of hours worked/week at each site; hours/week worked virtually at each Virginia work site); forms of payment accepted (with ability to identify the proportion of each type of BH profession accepting only cash, and the proportion of each type of BH profession accepting only Medicaid as a payment source, as well as Medicaid in combination with each other payer source option available to licensees – e.g., Medicaid + Medicare, Medicaid + Medicare + Private Insurance); plans to reduce clinical hours in next two years; and anticipated time to retirement.
3. DHP shall also provide VHCF a code book, data definitions and/or user guides in an electronic format (Word, Excel, PDF) so it can clearly understand the data elements and their structure (alphanumeric, multiple responses – to include all possible options a licensee may select, open/free response). This code book shall also include record length and record count; known data quality issues and related documentation regarding resolution and, to the extent possible, impact on the data set and/or data functionality; and changes to policy and/or administrative practices that may have impacted the data set and implementation date.
4. VHCF shall protect the confidentiality and security of record-level data provided by the DHP and interim or working documents and/or data files consistent with state and federal law.
C. Out of this appropriation, $400,000 the first year and $400,000 the second year from Commonwealth Opioid Abatement and Remediation funds shall be provided for ongoing support and maintenance costs for system changes to the Prescription Monitoring Program pursuant to the provisions of House Bill 1902, passed by the 2025 General Assembly.
D. Out of this appropriation, $100,000 the first year and $100,000 the second year from nongeneral funds and one position shall be used to implement the provisions of Chapters 439 and 440, 2026 Session of the General Assembly.
E. Out of this appropriation, $154,900 the first year and $154,900 the second year from nongeneral funds and one position shall be used to implement the provisions of Chapters 450 and 451, 2026 Session of the General Assembly.
F. The Department of Health Professions shall convene a stakeholder workgroup to review the structure and purpose of the Committee of the Joint Boards of Nursing and Medicine. The workgroup shall consider pathways to modernize the Joint Boards' structure and governance of advanced practice registered nurses. The workgroup shall consist of representatives from the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners, Virginia Nurses Association, Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Medical Society of Virginia, and other stakeholders deemed appropriate by the Department. The workgroup shall report its findings to the Governor and General Assembly by November 1, 2026.
G. The workgroup established pursuant to Chapter 590 of the 2025 Acts of Assembly shall be continued. The workgroup shall report its findings to the Chairs of the House Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2026.
H. In the event that expenses for operating health regulatory boards exceed current fees collected by the Boards, a treasury loan, not to exceed $3,500,000, shall be provided to the Department of Health Professions to finance these costs. This treasury loan shall be repaid by no later than June 30, 2030, with the proceeds collected from an increase in health regulatory board fees based on a four-year plan developed by the Department of Health Professions to determine the appropriate fee structure to ensure the sustainability of agency operations.