McAuliffe vetoes direct primary care bill

(AP) – Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vetoed legislation designed to clarify an emerging subscription-based medical service is not insurance and can’t be regulated as such.

The governor vetoed the legislation Friday.
    
Known as direct primary care, patients pay their doctors monthly fees for unlimited primary care.
    
The veto won’t prohibit the handful of direct primary care practices operating in Virginia from remaining open. But supporters of direct primary care said legislation was needed to provide legal clarity for them and their customers.
    
Insurance companies opposed the legislation, saying it does not have necessary consumer protection provisions. And McAuliffe said the legislation was an incomplete stop-gap measure and Republicans should expand Medicaid instead.