by Devon Green, Sr. Vice President of Policy & Strategy, VAHHS
There was a moment last week where I had my hand on the doorknob to the House Health Care Committee room and two visitors came up to me.
“Can we just go into any of these rooms?” one of them asked.
“Yes, of course,” I responded. “This is the people’s house!”
They excitedly rushed off.
“It might be boring!” I called after them, but it was too late—I had caught some of their enthusiasm, which is a pretty refreshing reminder when you’ve been in the thick of it for a couple of months.
Check out all that was going on behind those doors in health care last week:
Rural Health Transformation: The Agency of Human Services provided the House Health Care Committee with an update on Rural Health Transformation. They noted that there were several RFPs released with more coming out shortly. AHS also discussed how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will need to approve of each RFP recipient/sub-recipient and project budget. The Agency of Human Services can adjust up to 10%, but anything beyond that will need re-approval. AHS also underscored that funding cannot be used to supplant current funds.
Role of APRNs and PAs in Hospitals: The House Health Care Committee advanced S.163, a bill that names APRNS and Physicians Assistants in the Patient Bill of Rights and clarifies that they have admitting and discharging privileges for patients, to the extent that Medicare allows.
Pathway to Licensure for Internationally Trained Physicians: The House Health Care Committee heard about S.142, a bill that provides a provisional licensure for physicians trained in other countries. VAHHS, Michael Costa, President & CEO of Gifford Health Care, and Mariah Macnamara, Association Chief Medical Officer at UVMH testified in support of the bill. The Vermont Department of Health supports the goal of the bill but would like the details worked out through rulemaking.
Primary Care: The House Health Care Committee took further testimony on S.197 and strengthening primary care through the Blueprint for Health, including presentations from Blue Cross Blue Shield of VT and CIGNA underscoring that increased resources to primary care would result in shifting resources from other areas of the system in order to avoid increasing health insurance premiums.
The committee also expressed skepticism around continuing or adding quality measures that are administratively burdensome.
Health Care Coverage Update: The Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) provided an update on Vermont’s health care coverage landscape to the House Health Care Committee. DVHA estimates the individual market to come in at around 29,000 enrollees for April, which is a decrease of about thousand. To see previous enrollment reports, go here.
Artificial Intelligence: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee took testimony on H.814 and H.816, the two artificial intelligence bills. On H.814, which expands the role of the current AI Council to include health care, the Vermont Medical Society raised concerns around the protections of neurological rights inadvertently impeding current HIPAA-protected care and requested further clarification. With H.816, which addresses AI use and mental health therapy, the Office of Professional Regulation and the Vermont Medical Society requested greater clarity in the legislation to ensure that AI could be used as a tool for licensees.
Governance: Common Good Vermont, representing non-profits, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England expressed concerns to the Senate Finance Committee regarding the provision in H.585 that has the governor appointing members to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont board.
Site Neutral: The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from Health First proposing to expand the site neutral provision in H.585 to outpatient evaluation and management visits.
Auditor: The Office of Vermont State Auditor testified in front of the House Health Care Committee on recommendations around OneCare and the Blueprint for Health. Their recommendations included:
- Establishing a good baseline measurement
- if affordability is the goal, to ensure that the cost of implementing the program is factored into the overall cost
- Clear context and analysis for the public when presenting data
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