Virginia HB 1338: Health insurance; coverage for the treatment of acquired brain injury required.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26103368D

HOUSE BILL NO. 1338

Offered January 19, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-4319 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-3418.23, relating to health insurance; coverage for the treatment of acquired brain injury required.

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Patron—Bulova

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Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 38.2-4319 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 38.2-3418.23 as follows:

§ 38.2-3418.23. Coverage for treatment of acquired brain injury.

A. As used in this section:

"Acquired brain injury" means any injury to the brain that occurs after birth that may be caused by infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, endocrine disorders, diminished oxygen, brain tumors, toxins, a disease that affects the blood supply to the brain, stroke, or a traumatic brain injury.

"Cognitive communication therapy" means a treatment for problems with communication that have an underlying cause in one or more cognitive deficits rather than a primary language or speech deficit.

"Cognitive rehabilitation therapy" means a process of re-learning cognitive skills essential for daily living through the coordinated, specialized, integrated therapeutic treatments that are provided in dynamic settings designed for efficient and effective re-learning following damage to brain cells or brain chemistry due to brain injury.

"Community reintegration services" means services that provide incremental guided real-world therapeutic training to develop skills essential for an individual to participate in daily life; reenter employment; go to school and engage in other productive activity; safely live independently; and participate in their community while avoiding re-hospitalization and long-term support needs. 

"Functional rehabilitation therapy" means a structured approach that emphasizes learning by doing and focuses re-learning a specific task in a prescribed format, with maximum opportunity for repeated correct practice.

"Neurocognitive therapy" means the treatment of disorders in which the primary clinical deficit is in cognitive function that has not been present since birth and is a decline from a previously attained level of function. 

"Neurofeedback therapy" means a direct training of brain function to enhance self-regulatory capacity or an individual's ability to exert control over behavior, thoughts, and feelings. 

"Neuropsychological testing" means a set of medical and therapeutic assessments and treatments focused on amelioration of cognitive, emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral deficits caused by brain injury. 

"Post-acute residential treatment" includes integrated medical and therapeutic services, treatment, education, and skills training provided in a home and community setting that are designed to create the maximum opportunity for correct practice of skill in the context of use to develop new neural pathways to enable the individual to avoid re-hospitalization and long-term care. 

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 38.2-3419 or subdivision A 1 of § 38.2-6506, each insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policies providing hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverage on an expense-incurred basis; each corporation providing individual or group accident and sickness subscription contracts; and each health maintenance organization providing a health care plan for health care services shall provide coverage for the treatment of acquired brain injury. Such coverage shall include coverage for treatment using cognitive rehabilitation therapy, cognitive communication therapy, neurocognitive therapy, neuropsychological testing, neurofeedback therapy, functional rehabilitation therapy, community reintegration services, post-acute residential treatment services, inpatient services, outpatient and day treatment services, and home and community-based treatment.

C. The coverage provided under this section shall not be more restrictive than or separate from coverage provided for any other illness, condition, or disorder for purposes of determining deductibles, benefit year or lifetime durational limits, benefit year or lifetime dollar limits, lifetime episodes or treatment limits, copayment and coinsurance factors, and benefit year maximums for deductibles and copayments and coinsurance factors.

D. This section shall not apply to short-term travel, accident-only, or limited or specified disease policies or contracts, nor to policies or contracts designed for issuance to persons eligible for coverage under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, known as Medicare, or any other similar coverage under federal governmental plans.

§ 38.2-4319. Statutory construction and relationship to other laws.

A. No provisions of this title except this chapter