Virginia does not need a legal pathway for human experimentation. This bill creates a vague carve-out that allows health tech and AI companies to bypass safety and consumer protections, with no clear beneficiaries and no demonstrated need. If you can’t explain who it helps or what it does, it shouldn’t become law. Please do not vote for this bill.

The Health Care Learning Lab and Regulatory Improvement Plan is a fast track for allowing unscrupulous companies unregulated access to Virginian's health. In a time where we are seeing an increase in both the inefficiencies and structural failures created by artificial intelligence integration it is deeply concerning to see this bill (that has been struck down 5 times before) once again before the house of delegates. Virginia has a dark legacy of unethical human experimentation and the performance of scientific study/procedure without the consent of patients. As a leader in the US eugenicist movement, Virginia forcibly sterilized thousands between 1924 and 1979 only slowing in 1988 after procedures were put in place requiring informed consent in most cases. In 2001 the Virginia General Assembly passed a joint resolution expressing regret for VA's aggressive eugenics practices as a misuse of "a respectable scientific veneer to cover [unethical] activities." No Virginian Health Technology Company has spoken in favor of this bill. With our hospitals and medical research facilities leading the US in neurological disorders, cardiovascular medicine, type 1 diabetes, and oncology it is alarming that no state-based company has come out in support of this deregulation. "Innovation in health" is a vague description that opens the door for practices that have ambiguous or unsubstantiated benefits at best and are downright dangerous at worse. If we cannot clearly identify the benefits of deregulation then the regulation is not the innovation stopper it claims to be. OpenAI and Neuralink's aggressive lobbying around the country looking for footholds into established health institutions or disenfranchised communities for microchip development or other human experimentation is cause for immediate concern. It is not hard to draw the conclusion that those companies and other ai "innovation first, people last" projects seek to expand their influence over VA politics beyond the construction of power-grid sapping data centers. Thirty eight years ago the Virginia General Assembly came together to recognize that in order to protect and preserve the safety of Virginians across the state, regulation was critical as was recognizing the dangers of nonconsenting medical procedures. Twenty five years ago the Virginia General Assembly recognized that a blind eye and lack of oversight had lead to the cruel and unethical treatment of our most vulnerable populations. Virginia must continue to move forward with its protection of its population and not backslide into permitting unethical treatment and experimentation. This bill has failed to pass for five years and may this be the last time it fails, never to be introduced again.

There is no need to create a legal pathway for human experimentation in Virginia. In summary, this bill seeks to allow "health tech companies" who seek to utilize AI in health care in some form, to have "restrictive" regulations lifted for them in order to gain market access so that they may "prove" to the Commonwealth if the regulations were necessary in the first place. Either intentionally or unintentionally, this bill will create a carve out for companies like Neuralink or similar companies to skirt pass safety regulations, consumer protections, and/or emerging & existing regulations about artificial intelligence in VA. Health innovation is regulated almost exclusively by the federal government. Products that have completed clinical trials and processed through the FDA, do not have additional health state regulations to overcome. There could be regulations that indirectly impact health innovation such as: - Consumer Protections - Charity care requirements - Human Research - Human Cloning Advocates have failed to give a compelling reason for this bill, despite this being the 5th year the bill has been filed. In all 5 years, not a single Virginian health tech company has spoken in favor of the bill or indicated willingness to participate in the program. When asked about potential beneficiaries or targeted regulations, advocates failed to mention specifics and only offered generalized statements about existing products. If you don't know what a bill will do, don't vote for it. There is not a multiple of legitimate health tech companies residing in Virginia that are seeking to utilize "life-saving products" if only VA regulations "weren't standing in their way". There is a risk though, of creating a backdoor for a sketchy companies with influence to take gain market access. The Commonwealth does not need to create a carve out for “Snake-AI-L solutions”, "The Tuskegee Experiment Reimagined", or “Mark of the Beast Incorporated” to make a quick buck at the expense of Virginians health. Given the history of human experimentation in the US, the inclusion of language that health tech companies must have targeted engagement of diverse communities or populations less than 300% FPL is EXTREMELY concerning. Considering both Neuralink and OpenAI publicly stated they intend to expand operations in 2026, if a health tech company was putting microchips in the brains of vulnerable populations around the Commonwealth, wouldn't it be important that existing regulations were still in place? There is a right way to do things and a wrong way. Virginians deserve real solutions, not flawed, ambiguous, and far reaching proposals such as this. Health care innovation is STRONG in the Commonwealth and it so without this bill. If any health tech company exists that would genuinely like to see this proposal, they should speak with their representative and submit specific legislation to addressing that need specifically. Again, THERE IS NO NEED FOR A LEGAL PATHWAY FOR HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION IN VIRGINIA. DO NOT VOTE FOR THIS BILL

Hello, l am writing to you and asking that you vote against HB 542 by Delegate Hamilton. This bill is not needed and is an attempt to cause shame and confusion in women. Thank you

Please uphold Virginia's traditional family values. Vote to protect all life!

I strongly urge you to support both HB531 and HB542. Thank you.

I strongly support both HB531 and HB542. These bills are about accountability and compassion, guaranteed informed consent, and simply doing what is right for a living infant, affirming the inherent dignity and worth of every human life. It is nearly incomprehensible that a civilized society would act otherwise. Please vote in favor of this critical legislation.

I would like to ask your support for HB 531 and HB 542. Life is precious and should be protect from conception onward if possible. There are options besides abortion. Many couples are looking to have children but are not able to have children. The Commonwealth should look for ways to support prenatal care. Regarding the Safe Haven program, very little has been done to advertise or promoted this program by the Commonwealth. I would suggest adding funding to make sure all health care providers and interested parties are made aware.

I encourage passage of each of the above bills. These are all improvements for the residents of our state ,in safety , legal protection and personal freedom and responsibility.

Women should be given informed consent about newborn safety devices, like Safe Haven Baby Boxes, that are available near them before receiving an abortion. Pro-choice and pro-life people agree that women should be given the chance to keep their baby, and they should be provided with all the options before undergoing an irreversible procedure. Abortion ends the life of a human zygote, embryo, or fetus, and that cannot be undone. Before an abortion happens, healthcare providers should be required to inform women that there is help available that can enable them to continue their pregnancy and preserve the life of that human child. Please vote yes on this bill.

I encourage passage of each of the above bills. These are all improvements for the residents of our state ,in safety , legal protection and personal freedom and responsibility.

Statement of Support for Virginia HB1504: Service member community members; medical care facilities, health care equity by Nate Szejniuk, HMC (SW/AW), USN (Ret), HM-8432 / HM-8404 Citizen Albemarle County, Virginia Purpose: To share with Delores L. Quinn (Chief Patron) and members of the House Subcommittee on Health and Human Services one veteran’s thoughts regarding the importance of the Virginia HB1504 regarding – Service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity. Permits medical care facilities to screen each patient for information on their eligibility as a service member community member, as defined by the bill. The bill permits medical care facilities to identify service member community members as a vulnerable population and comply with health care equity standards published by The Joint Commission. Personal Recommendation: As a military retiree I fully support of HB1504. Passage of the bill will perform a critical forcing function designed to raise the awareness of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems developers like EPIC, Cerner, and others prolific across the Commonwealth. This will address what is ultimate intent, which is to improve the health outcomes for all service members (current or prior) and their families across Virginia’s healthcare ecosystem with high quality data analytics with a focus on the military and veteran community and their family members. Discussion: As a retired United States Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman trained in public health, occupational health, industrial hygiene and preventive medicine, which includes population health analytics that spans both operational and fixed healthcare environments across my military and post-military career its is CRITICAL that any legislation recognize that for the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to properly impact health outcomes both individually and at scale across a population will require a process for data acquisition normalization. As any epidemiologist would state the greatest concern when doing health analytics is the lack of data quality they encounter in master data sets. In recent years I have been studying often misalignment master data sets especially regarding the the “service member community” for those who would be expected to use commercial healthcare in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The one thing I have learned in the past 25+ years since retiring from the US Navy is that the current state of the nation’s data and analytics infrastructure is very messy. This makes it nearly impossible to do proper healthcare analytics to document improvement health outcomes regardless of demographics, especially for those who have served in any branch or any component of the US military. This means creating a Common Healthcare Operations Picture (CHOP) as it applies to a more wholistic and inclusive care accountability process. This means a need to work closer with CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) at the federal level to redefine the ICD-10CM protocols for improving billing and coding that is more accurate. The current ICD10-CM Z-codes of "Z91.85 – Person with history of military service" and "Z91.82 - Personal history of military deployment (Reserved for AD, NG, Res) who have been deployed to a combat zone" are wholly inadequate as they also don't provide for an efficient way within the current EMR structure define military dependent status with ease! Just saying...

CJ JORDAN 202-904-3296/egpearl@yahoo.com 2/10/2026 To: Chairman Hope, Ranking Member Hodges and distinguished members of the Committee: Today, I come before you as a private citizen, my name is CJ Jordan, and I want to thank Delegate McQuinn for introducing this very important piece of legislation. As a friend of West Point and former Vice President of Military Family Affairs, GW Chapter of the Association of the United States Army, I spent many hours visiting wounded soldiers and their families at the Old Walter Reed Military Hospital, so much so that when then Vice President Joe Biden came for a Christmas visit, Secret Service wanted me to be removed from the ward that he was visiting, but the Commander said no she stays as the patients were looking forward to picking out a present from the shopping cart. No, it did not become a national security standoff, yes I did have scissors, but an agreement was worked out so that I could stay, and we would make sure that we didn’t end up on the same hallway. Yet in that moment of laughter, I carried on praying, wiping away tears. Tears and stories that were personally shared, the smell of death only to see the miracle of gifted hands at work. It was those personal stories that lead me to walk the halls of Congress to carry the stories of military families and to get Congress to understand their needs. Congress heeded that call and The Congressional Military Family Caucus was stood up, chaired by Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Former Congresswoman and Military Spouse Cathy McMorris- Rogers (R-WA) now Virginia’s very own Congresswoman Jen Kiggans serves as a co-chair. It has taken over two decades to get to this day, a day not by when the service member community was defined but two decades to when the voice of many and the efforts of a few who could find a legislator who was part of the service member community who would stand shoulder to shoulder and introduce legislation making the Service Member Community a priority. Some would say why a vulnerable population, well 22 Veterans commit suicide every day, most contribute it to shell shock, flash backs or PTSD, but the truth of the matter is a major contributing factor is the pain and suffering for lack of health care knowledge and understanding the medical issues related to ones duty station or MOS. Today, Virginia has the opportunity to lead the nation by advancing this bill out of committee with bipartisan support. 80 percent of the Service Member Community receives its health care in the civilian, private-sector system. In the Commonwealth alone, there are more than 700,000 veterans and when their families' members, along with active-duty service members, National Guard, and Reserve members are included, the population affected is substantial. This legislation helps ensure that those who serve, and their families, receive the quality care they deserve when they seek care in the civilian, private-sector health settings. I respectfully ask you to heed this call because “You Must Know Me To Treat Me”

As a long time resident of the Delmarva region, and a family member of both Army and Air Force personal, and a contributor to NAVY efforts over forty years in Annapolis, I truly hope you consider the legislation before you under HB1504. Our nation is faced with rising health care costs and a health care foundation that is under tremendous strain. Our Warrior community is more at risk than most - the nature of their having put themselves in danger, in toxic environments, and having faced tremendous strain on their physical and mental health, creates a community that is not served in a way they deserve. Our healthcare system is uninformed, unaware and unable to treat our warrior community with competent care as witnessed by higher readmissions for this segment, higher costs of care, and in some cases unnecessary loss of life. THE ONLY path forward is a healthcare community that is fully aware of the risks, through education, measurement and improved insights through data - to not only improve health outcomes for our warrior community, but ALSO to provide the level of care that I know each member of the caregiving community WANTS to provide. Please raise awareness of this critical issue by supporting this legislation; sometimes it just takes a couple of concerned people to make a huge difference in our quality of care, and quality of life, of those at risk in our community. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

HB1504 Service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity Chairman and distinguished members of the subcommittee, I am honored to speak to you today as President and Chair of the Veterans Health and Wellness Foundation, as well as a retired Navy physician. I strongly support HB 1504, legislation that is vital to the health and well-being of those who have served our nation. During my decades of medical service, I have witnessed firsthand the unique health challenges facing our military and veteran community. These individuals carry invisible wounds, traumatic brain injuries, military sexual trauma, toxic exposures, and service-connected conditions that often go unrecognized in civilian healthcare settings. Without systematic screening and recognition, these critical health factors remain hidden, leading to misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment, and preventable suffering. From a physician’s perspective, HB 1504 addresses a fundamental gap in our healthcare system. Currently, there is no consistent requirement for healthcare professionals to identify military service or Veteran status during patient encounters. This omission has profound clinical consequences. When we fail to ask about military affiliation, we miss essential pieces of the diagnostic puzzle. We cannot provide competent care when unaware of service-related exposures, combat experiences, or the complex interplay between military service and chronic disease. The Warrior Service Member Community must be recognized as a vulnerable population deserving specific protections and standards of care. Symbolic it is clinically necessary. Nearly 80% of this community receives some or all of their healthcare through the commercial system, making hospitals and civilian providers the central point of both care and accountability. Without legislative requirements, this population remains invisible within our healthcare infrastructure. HB 1504 establishes accountability by requiring adherence to nationally recognized standards from The Joint Commission. These evidence-based protocols ensure that every healthcare facility and provider is equipped to identify, understand, and appropriately care for military-affiliated patients. By codifying these requirements in legislation, Virginia sets a clear, enforceable, and nationally leading standard that other states will follow. Our Commonwealth has always understood the sacred obligation to those who defend our nation. HB 1504 allows us to honor that founding promise, ensuring those who have served are recognized, respected, and provided the specialized care they have earned. I strongly support HB 1504 and urge its passage. This legislation will save lives, improve health outcomes, and demonstrate Virginia’s unwavering commitment to its warrior community. Thank you for your leadership and consideration. Sincerely, Evelyn L. Lewis MD, MA, FAAFP, DABDA President and Chair Veterans Health and Wellness Foundation

I am writing to support House Bill 1504 because I believe that as citizens and elected officials, we should use every opportunity to provide high quality healthcare for our Veterans, our Active-Duty service personnel, and their families. Every day we ask our military services to risk their well-being to ensure ours, around the world. These military families make tremendous personal sacrifices, and forgo numerous personal opportunities to ensure that our rights, safety, and privileges are protected. The least we can do as Virginians is to ensure that every tool available is used to promote and provide the most appropriate access to the best quality of healthcare in our State. I will believe that HB 1504 is a great step in the right direction. Fred Hobby, Former executive of Newport News General Hospital, Portsmouth General Hospital, Tidewater Healthcare, the American Hospital Association, and resident of the Great Commonwealth of Virginia fred.hobby4@gmail.com 708 217 9840

Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee: My name is Ronald J. Steptoe. I am a native son of Virginia, born in 1965, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of HB1504 - Service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity. My family’s history in Virginia reaches back to the colonial era. In 1676, my ancestor Anthony Bowser earned his freedom as an indentured servant. His descendant, James Bowser I, later served in General Washington’s Army, was present at the Battle of Yorktown, and received a land grant for his service. His son, James Bowser II, also served and helped escort the British out of the United States in 1782. My wife and I are both graduates of the Class of 1987 of the United States Military Academy at West Point. I am also a nationally recognized expert in population health and health system science, and I serve as a Principal Investigator with the Department of Defense research and development community on healthcare. HB1504 does something both practical and principled. It requires medical facilities to screen for military and veteran affiliation, recognize the Warrior Service Member Community as a vulnerable population, and provide care aligned with nationally recognized standards established by The Joint Commission. Importantly, nearly 80 percent of the Warrior Community receives some or all of its care through the commercial healthcare system, making hospitals a central point of care and accountability for this population. By tying these requirements to legislation, Virginia sets a clear, accountable, and nationally leading standard. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Virginia again has the opportunity to honor its founding promise, not only in words, but in action. by ensuring those who have served are recognized and cared for. I strongly support HB1504. Thank you for your leadership and consideration. Sincerely, Ronald J. Steptoe, CMR, DABDA U.S. Army Veteran (Captain) United States Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1987 Native Born Son of Virginia, 1965

Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee: My name is Ronald J. Steptoe. I am a native son of Virginia, born in 1965, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of HB1504 - Service member community members; medical care facilities; health care equity. My family’s history in Virginia reaches back to the colonial era. In 1676, my ancestor Anthony Bowser earned his freedom as an indentured servant. His descendant, James Bowser I, later served in General Washington’s Army, was present at the Battle of Yorktown, and received a land grant for his service. His son, James Bowser II, also served and helped escort the British out of the United States in 1782. My wife and I are both graduates of the Class of 1987 of the United States Military Academy at West Point. I am also a nationally recognized expert in population health and health system science, and I serve as a Principal Investigator with the Department of Defense research and development community on healthcare. HB1504 does something both practical and principled. It requires medical facilities to screen for military and veteran affiliation, recognize the Warrior Service Member Community as a vulnerable population, and provide care aligned with nationally recognized standards established by The Joint Commission. Importantly, nearly 80 percent of the Warrior Community receives some or all of its care through the commercial healthcare system, making hospitals a central point of care and accountability for this population. By tying these requirements to legislation, Virginia sets a clear, accountable, and nationally leading standard. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Virginia again has the opportunity to honor its founding promise, not only in words, but in action. by ensuring those who have served are recognized and cared for. I strongly support HB1504. Thank you for your leadership and consideration. Sincerely, Ronald J. Steptoe, CMR, DABDA U.S. Army Veteran (Captain) United States Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1987 Native Born Son of Virginia, 1965