Gov. Phil Scott signs bill limiting prior authorization, other health insurer practices
VTDigger
Gov. Phil Scott on Monday evening signed H.766, a bill that takes aim at health insurance company practices such as “prior authorization” and seeks to free health care practitioners from burdensome paperwork.
“The intent of this bill is to improve the health care outcomes of Vermonters — which could lower overall healthcare costs — by increasing access to timely and essential health care services,” Scott said in a letter to lawmakers.
In his letter, Scott said he was also directing the state’s Agency of Human Services and Department of Financial Regulation to study the impact of the legislation on costs and outcomes of care. The study would examine similar legislation in other states and “how we can apply successful strategies to the implementation and improvement of this law,” Scott said.
H.766 aims to streamline interactions between practitioners and insurance companies. By limiting tactics like prior authorization — in which insurers require practitioners to get permission before ordering a procedure — the bill seeks to give providers more autonomy over the care they provide.