Legislative Update: January 11, 2021

This January brings us a historic legislative session on many levels. Not only will Montpelier remain quiet (and actually have available parking) as legislators gather virtually, but we start off this biennium with an unprecedented amount of leadership by women. Senate President Pro-Tempore Becca Balint (D–Windham) and House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D–Burlington) have begun their tenures as the legislative leaders of their respective chambers.

On Thursday evening, the Governor delivered his State-of-the-State address, where he indicated some of this priorities for the session. Of note to the health care world, the governor announced his plan to have the Department of Financial Regulation review any potential savings to health insurers during 2020 due to decreased utilization and determine whether an estimated $10 million in premium rebates were possible for policyholders. The governor also continued to support moving away from fee-for-service reimbursement for providers and towards reimbursement based on quality and outcomes.

Committees met this week briefly for introductions. We have several legislators who are new to the health care committees, indicated by asterisks below:

House Committee on Health Care

Rep. William J. Lippert Jr., Chair
Rep. Anne B. Donahue, Vice Chair
Rep. Lori Houghton, Ranking Member
Rep. Alyssa Black*
Rep. Elizabeth Burrows*
Rep. Brian Cina
Rep. Mari Cordes
Rep. Leslie Goldman*
Rep. Emily Long*
Rep. Woodman Page
Rep. Arthur Peterson*

Senate Committee on Health and Welfare

Sen. Virginia "Ginny" Lyons, Chair
Sen. Ruth Hardy, Vice Chair*
Sen. Ann Cummings
Sen. Cheryl Hooker*
Sen. Joshua Terenzini*
Next week, committees will continue to gather and get up to speed with an eye towards educating new committee members and learning the latest on COVID-related issues.