Legislative Update
Devon Green, VP of Government Relations
We have officially achieved policy crossover. All of the policy bills that did not make it out of committee last week will not be moving forward. To see an updated bill tracker, go here.
This week is the money week where both the appropriations and tax committees must pass out their bills, including the FY ’25 budget on the House side.
Health Care Reform: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee did not advance S.151, the health care reform bill, so it will not move forward this session.
Youth Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility: In a joint session with the House Health Care and Human Services Committees, the Agency of Human Services testified on the need for a 15-bed Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility for Vermonters ages 12 to 21 (if admitted prior to turning 18) with a voluntary legal status. The Agency noted that Vermont currently has no such facility, necessitating placement of Vermonter youth out of state. The committees asked about locked units and use of seclusion and restraint. VAHHS testified on the need for a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility using data on emergency department wait times and inpatient post-acute data. The House Health Care Committee supported the Youth Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility in its budget memo.
Emergency Medical Services: The House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee advanced H.622 to support EMS services with funding for training and Medicaid reimbursement for treatment without transport.
Data Privacy: VAHHS, the Vermont Medical Society, Vermont Information Technology Leaders, and the Agency of Human Services testified in the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee on H.121, the comprehensive data privacy bill. The testimony focused on the difficulty of maintaining multiple sets of data with multiple privacy requirements while trying to coordinate care and address the social determinants of health. The Committee passed language that exempts data that is treated in the same manner as HIPAA protected data to help organizations avoid multiple data privacy laws.
Psilocybin: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee passed S.114, a bill that creates a working group to examine the use of psychedelics to improve physical and mental health and made recommendations on permitting health care providers to administer psychedelics in a therapeutic setting.
Medicaid Eligibility Expansion: The House Health Care Committee passed H.721, which aims to expand by 2026 both the Medicare Savings Program and Dr. Dynasaur Program under Medicaid. The Medicare Savings Program financial eligibility expansion would make Medicare premiums and cost sharing more affordable. The Dr. Dynasaur expansion would increase Medicaid eligibility for individuals up to 21 years of age and pregnant individuals of any age up to 312 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill also allocates funding towards technical analysis of further Medicaid expansion, including provider reimbursement.
Prescription Drug Affordability: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee passed out S.98, which tasks the Green Mountain Care board with creating a framework and methodology for implementing a program to regulate the cost of prescription drugs with a final plan due in January of 2026.