Virginia Takes Legislative Action on Steering Referrals of Laboratory Services

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 745 on April 6, prohibiting health plans from imposing unnecessary restrictions on referrals to in-network laboratories.

Known as the Practitioner Self-Referral Act, the bill stipulates that health plans cannot impose restrictions on an exclusive set of a few in-network laboratories, thereby denying referrals to other in-network providers. This bill does not apply to state-regulated HMOs.

The College of American Pathologists has been an outspoken critic of steering practices, previously writing in a letter to Spanberger on March 2 that “[t]his business practice of funneling pathology/laboratory referrals undermines the optimal practice of medicine and can harm Virginia patients without their knowledge.”

The law becomes effective July 1, 2026.

Sources:

https://www.cap.org/advocacy/latest-news-and-practice-data/april-14-2026#story2

https://documents.cap.org/documents/Senate-Bill-745-CAP-03-02-26.pdf

https://documents.cap.org/documents/Chapter-139.pdf