State plan for medical assistance services; adds provision related to doula care.
Summary
Department of Medical Assistance Services; state plan for medical assistance services; doula care. Adds provisions related to the provision of doula care under the state plan for medical assistance services specifying that such care includes support during labor and delivery and up to two linkage-to-care incentive payments for doulas.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026
Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was formally enacted into law (Chaptered) in 2026, converting the draft text into official state statutes. The substantive policy content regarding Medicaid benefits, such as doula care and telemedicine, remains unchanged from the enrolled version, though the formatting was standardized to remove extra spacing and update the session year.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it is now an official part of the Code of Virginia.
TECHNICAL
The text was converted from a draft bill format to an official enacted statute, including updating the session year to 2026 and adding the official Chapter number (Chapter 682).
Excessive blank lines and spacing present in the draft version were removed to comply with standard legislative formatting requirements.
The approval date was updated to reflect the actual enactment date of April 13, 2026.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 9, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026
How they voted
39–0
Passed
Total votes 39
Mar 9, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
31
Key actions
13
Committee
11
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 682 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB838ER)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Health
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: Health & Human Resources
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Health and Human Services and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned sub: Social Services
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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