# Virginia HB548: Uniform Health Care Decisions Act; civil penalty.

Virginia HB548, Uniform Health Care Decisions Act; civil penalty., is a 2027 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Patrick A. Hope (Democratic); status passed house, last action 2026-07-21 (Continued from last session) (as of 2026-10-13).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB548-2027
- As of: 2026-10-13
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB548
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2027 Regular Session
- Title: Uniform Health Care Decisions Act; civil penalty.
- Status: passed house
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session
- Sponsor: Patrick A. Hope (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Finance and Appropriations
- Touches household money: no
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Uniform Health Care Decisions Act; civil penalty. Repeals most provisions of the Health Care Decisions Act and enacts the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act. The bill creates a process for the execution of advance health care directives, as defined in the bill; establishes criteria for determining the capacity of an individual to make health care decisions; provides for the establishment of a default surrogate in the absence of an appointed agent for health care decisions; establishes powers and duties of agents appointed by powers of attorney for health care; and establishes duties of health care professionals.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Patrick A. Hope (Democratic), House

## Actions (24)

- 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (Senate)
- 2026-03-11: Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (3/11/2026 2:17 pm) (House)
- 2026-03-06: Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-02-19: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB548) (House)
- 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House (62-Y 34-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-16: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-16: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-16: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-15: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-13: Committee substitute printed 26106652D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-13: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 6-N) (House)
- 2026-02-12: Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/12/2026 9:47 am) (House)
- 2026-02-11: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-11: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) (House)
- 2026-02-10: Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal (House)
- 2026-01-21: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB548) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/13/2026 1:31 pm) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104963D (House)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-03-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229734.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229733.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230314.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230313.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-11: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229830.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229467.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229466.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229829.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229746.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229745.PDF)

## Related bills

- SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority, report. (in committee)
- HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of statements. (introduced)
- HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information. (introduced)
- SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset. (in committee)
- SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment. (in committee)
- SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion State Prison. (in committee)

## Sources
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229734.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229733.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230314.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230313.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229830.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229467.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229466.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229829.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229746.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229745.PDF)

## Related
- [SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority, report.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB844-2027)
- [HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of s…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1535-2027)
- [HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1534-2027)
- [SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB843-2027)
- [SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB842-2027)
- [SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion Sta…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB840-2027)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB548-2027 (as of 2026-10-13).