04/29/2026

Letter from VAHO to Governor Abigail Spanberger

Governor Abigail Spanberger
Patrick Henry Building
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Dear Governor Spanberger:

On behalf of the Virginia Association of Hematologists and Oncologists (VAHO), thank you for your thoughtful amendments to HB 483 and SB 271. We appreciate your effort to narrow and improve this legislation, and we are grateful for your recognition that prescription drug affordability policy must be approached with care.

As you know, during the reconvene session, the House and Senate did not act on your amendments, which means HB 483 and SB 271 now return to you in the original form passed by the General Assembly. The bills remain pending before you for action.

VAHO respectfully urges you to veto both HB 483 and SB 271. While we support efforts to reduce costs for patients, these bills still create a prescription drug affordability structure that risks undermining access to physician‑administered therapies without ensuring meaningful savings reach patients at the pharmacy counter. They do not adequately address the role of insurers and pharmacy benefit managers in driving out‑of‑pocket costs, nor do they guarantee that any savings will be passed through directly to patients.

For oncology practices, the stakes are especially high. Community‑based hematology and oncology clinics must acquire, store, prepare, and administer high‑cost therapies before reimbursement is received. If payment policies do not reflect the real costs of delivering care, independent practices may be forced to stop offering certain treatments or reduce services. That would threaten timely access to care and push more patients into hospital settings, where treatment is often more expensive and less convenient—especially for patients in rural and underserved communities.

Virginia patients need reforms that lower costs without jeopardizing access to local, high‑quality cancer care. We appreciated your amendments as a measured step, but because the General Assembly did not act on them, the bills before you remain too flawed to support. For these reasons, VAHO respectfully asks that you veto HB 483 and SB 271.

Respectfully,

Richard Ingram, MD, FASCO
President Virginia Association of Hematologists Oncologists
400 Campus Blvd., Suite 100
Winchester, VA 22601
O:540-662-1108 
richard.ingram@usoncology.com
Virginia Association of Hematologists and Oncologists