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