# Virginia SB535: Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; required liability insurance coverage. Virginia SB535, Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; required liability insurance coverage., is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Mark D. Obenshain (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-04-08 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0505)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB535-2026 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia SB535 - State: Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; required liability insurance coverage. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-13 - Last action: 2026-04-08, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0505) - Sponsor: Mark D. Obenshain (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 9 (259 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 11 ## Summary Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities; required liability insurance coverage. Provides that the regulations of the Board of Health shall require purchasers of licensed nursing homes or certified nursing facilities with claims-made policies of liability insurance coverage to purchase an extended reporting endorsement of two years after the date of sale or to purchase liability insurance coverage with dates that begin two years prior to the date the existing owner's policies end. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Patient visits protected during health emergencies: benefit, medium. During a COVID-19 public health emergency, nursing homes and certified nursing facilities must communicate a visitation plan. It must allow visits at least once every 10 calendar days, in person or online as appropriate under health guidance. The plan must address needed technology and staff help.… - Required insurance protects nursing home residents: benefit, medium. Nursing homes and certified nursing facilities must carry non-eroding general liability insurance of at least $1 million per incident. Professional liability coverage must at least match Virginia's legal recovery limit per patient incident. After an ownership transfer, buyers with existing claims-m… - Hemophilia patients get contaminated medicine notices: benefit, low. Facilities treating hemophilia and stocking clotting factors must record product lot numbers or other identifiers to trace recipients. When a lot is known to be contaminated, the facility must notify each recipient's attending doctor. It must ask the doctor to notify the patient. If the doctor is u… - Hospital drug screens must include fentanyl: benefit, low. When a hospital emergency department uses a urine drug screen to help diagnose a patient, it must test for fentanyl. The law does not require this screening for every emergency patient. - Hospitals can offer uninsured overdose medicine: benefit, low. Virginia hospitals can make agreements with the state health department to provide overdose-reversal medicine to uninsured patients. This includes naloxone and other medicines that reverse opioid overdoses. Hospitals do not have to enter an agreement, and individual patients are not guaranteed medi… - Parents gain online hospital record access: benefit, low. Hospitals giving minors access to health records through a secure website must also provide access to their parents or guardians. Access is not required when the hospital cannot block information whose disclosure has been denied under state law. The same exception applies to information for which r… - Patients get rules for personal assistants: benefit, low. Hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities must set and carry out rules for patient-provided intelligent personal assistants. The rules cover access and use during inpatient care and must protect health information under federal privacy law. The law does not guarantee unrestricted d… - Hospital workers gain violence reporting protections: benefit, low. Hospitals must track and review workplace violence reported by employees while working on hospital grounds. They must explain how to report incidents, including during orientation, and use findings to improve prevention. Records must be kept at least two years and include incident details, people i… - Hospitals must remove smoke during surgery: benefit, low. Hospitals performing surgery must adopt a policy requiring smoke removal for every planned procedure likely to create surgical smoke. The system must capture, filter, and remove smoke where it forms. It must prevent smoke from reaching the eyes or airways of patients and operating-room workers. - Care facilities can open adult day centers: benefit, low. Licensed hospitals, nursing homes, and certified nursing facilities can operate adult day centers after obtaining any required license. The law does not require a facility to open a center or guarantee anyone a place. - Hospital and nursing home fee rules: mixed, low. The Board of Health sets and publishes hospital and nursing home licensing fees to cover licensing and inspection costs. Costs must be shared fairly, and fees must cover unfunded expenses without being excessive. Fees can rise or fall no more than once a year. A change requires allocated program ex… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Mark D. Obenshain (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-03 | Senate | House amendment agreed to by Senate | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-02-27 | House | Passed House with amendment | pass | 95 | 0 | | | 2026-02-24 | House | Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) | pass | 21 | 1 | | | 2026-02-19 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) | pass | 10 | 0 | | | 2026-02-10 | Senate | Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-02-09 | Senate | Education and Health Amendments agreed to | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-06 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-06 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-02-05 | Senate | Reported from Education and Health with amendments | pass | 14 | 0 | | ## Actions (37) - 2026-04-08: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0505) (Governor) - 2026-04-08: Approved by Governor-Chapter 505 (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 (Senate) - 2026-03-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB535) (Senate) - 2026-03-09: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB535ER) (Senate) - 2026-03-09: Enrolled (Senate) - 2026-03-09: Signed by President (Senate) - 2026-03-09: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2026-03-03: House amendment agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Passed House with amendment (95-Y 0-N 0-A) (House) - 2026-02-27: Engrossed by House as amended (House) - 2026-02-27: committee amendment agreed to (House) - 2026-02-27: Read third time (House) - 2026-02-26: Read second time (House) - 2026-02-24: Reported from Health and Human Services with amendment(s) (21-Y 1-N) (House) - 2026-02-19: Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10-Y 0-N) (House) - 2026-02-19: House subcommittee offered (House) - 2026-02-16: Assigned sub: Health Professions (House) - 2026-02-13: Read first time (House) - 2026-02-13: Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services (House) - 2026-02-13: Placed on Calendar (House) - 2026-02-11: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB535) (Senate) - 2026-02-10: Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-09: Education and Health Amendments agreed to (Senate) - 2026-02-09: Engrossed by Senate as amended Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-09: Read second time (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Passed by for the day (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Rules suspended (Senate) - 2026-02-05: Reported from Education and Health with amendments (14-Y 0-N) (Senate) - 2026-02-02: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB535) (Senate) - 2026-01-30: Assigned Education sub: Health Professions (Senate) - 2026-01-30: Senate subcommittee offered (Senate) - 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on Education and Health (Senate) - 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100781D (Senate) ## Bill text - Chaptered, 2026-04-08: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218199.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218198.PDF) - Enrolled, 2026-03-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196038.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196037.PDF) - Amendment, 2026-02-27: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186336.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-02-24: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1178066.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-02-19: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169892.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169733.HTML) - Engrossed, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134094.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134093.PDF) - Amendment, 2026-02-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132675.HTML) - Amendment, 2026-01-30: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103902.HTML) - Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090721.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090720.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/1218199.HTML) - [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218198.PDF) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196038.HTML) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196037.PDF) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1186336.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1178066.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169892.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169733.HTML) - [Engrossed (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134094.HTML) - [Engrossed (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134093.PDF) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132675.HTML) - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103902.HTML) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090721.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090720.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-SB535-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).