# Virginia HB712: Office-based buprenorphine treatment; Board of Medicine to amend regulations.

Virginia HB712, Office-based buprenorphine treatment; Board of Medicine to amend regulations., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr. (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0207)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB712-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB712
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Office-based buprenorphine treatment; Board of Medicine to amend regulations.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0207)
- Sponsor: H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr. (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 7 (222 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Board of Medicine; office-based buprenorphine treatment; counseling. Directs the Board of Medicine to amend its regulations regarding office-based buprenorphine treatment to require providers to offer counseling or referral to counseling to each patient as clinically necessary and mutually agreed-upon. The bill specifies that a patient's refusal of counseling does not preclude the patient from receiving office-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care and is identical to SB 641.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Counseling offer for buprenorphine patients: benefit, medium. If you get office-based buprenorphine for opioid use disorder in Virginia, your provider must offer counseling or a referral when it is clinically needed. Any counseling plan must be something you and your provider agree to. You can refuse counseling and still get the medicine. The law sets no star…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr. (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 38 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-20 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-20 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-19 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health | pass | 13 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-02 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 99 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-27 | House | Reported from Health and Human Services | pass | 22 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-22 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (26)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0207) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 207 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-02-26: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB712) (House)
- 2026-02-25: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB712ER) (House)
- 2026-02-25: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-02-25: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-23: Passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-19: Reported from Education and Health (13-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate)
- 2026-02-03: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-02: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (99-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Read second time and engrossed (House)
- 2026-01-29: Read first time (House)
- 2026-01-27: Reported from Health and Human Services (22-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-22: Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-21: Assigned sub: Health Professions (House)
- 2026-01-16: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB712) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104755D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216774.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216773.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-02-25: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177811.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177810.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085620.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085619.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216774.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216773.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177811.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177810.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085620.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085619.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB712-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).