by Devon Green, Sr. Vice President of Policy & Strategy, VAHHS
We’re in a bit of a holding pattern this week when it comes to bills in committee because legislators are “on the floor” of the House and Senate for long stretches to get all the bills that were passed out by crossover out to the other chamber so we can start the dance again. Here’s what happened last week:
Reference-Based Pricing: After some amendment back and forth, the Senate is poised to pass out S.190 next week. The bill continues to target individual and small employer plans, which are struggling after federal subsidies were reduced earlier this year. An amendment garnered initial Senate support on Friday. In the amendment, hospitals will receive 250% of the base rate of Medicare, without add-ons. The bill also sets up a working group on the Critical Access Hospital Medicare cost sharing issue and ensures that the issue will not impact FY 2027 hospital budgets.
Telehealth Recording with Consent: VAHHS testified in favor of H.84, which allows for the recording of telehealth visits with patient consent. Recording of visits helps with trainings and notetaking. VAHHS underscored 2024 findings from UVM Health and the Larner College of Medicine that showed ambient AI software producing better quality notes and resulting in a more than 60% decrease in burnout.
Primary Care Workforce and Sustainability: Gifford Health Care President and CEO, Michael Costa, testified in the House Health Care Committee on the Maple Mountain Family Medicine Residency, which will produce more than 40 family doctors over ten years and 8,000 to 12,000 annual visits for their local communities. The program is poised to start, but faces a $4.06 million funding gap. Costa noted that they are pursuing several streams of funding, including the federal Rural Health Transformation Funds.
https://www.vahhs.org/ Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems.
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