HB 712 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Office-based buprenorphine treatment; Board of Medicine to amend regulations.

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.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled → Chaptered · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill was formally enacted into law as Chapter 207 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The core policy text remains unchanged, requiring the Board of Medicine to mandate counseling or referrals for patients receiving office-based buprenorphine treatment.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it continues to apply to providers of office-based buprenorphine treatment in Virginia.

TECHNICAL

The text was updated from 'Enrolled' status to 'Chaptered' status, indicating the bill has been officially signed into law and assigned Chapter 207.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 20, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 2, 2026

How they voted

39–0

Passed

Total votes 39

Feb 20, 2026

D Democratic20

20 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican19

19 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 6, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor-Chapter 207 (effective 7/1/2026)

executive

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB712ER)

lower

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (38-Y 0-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Education and Health (13-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Education and Health

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (99-Y 0-N 0-A)

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Health and Human Services (22-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Committee

Assigned sub: Health Professions

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors