[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6093929,"mediaKeyId","2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920","parentId",2845249,"title","Board of Medical Practice urges against exception for questionnaire‑only prescriptions in S.28","audioSeconds",3764,"startMs",561000,"endMs",4325000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920&start=561&end=4325","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920/thumbnail_561000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6093929/Vermont/Board-of-Medical-Practice-urges-against-exception-for-questionnaireonly-prescriptions-in-S28","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6093929-b723095f326791e43db7ea923430ec97/orig.mp4?Expires=1771048481&Signature=ZV0Gq5yXbTNOfnwwAjWRChDKvm5HZGinTsdiuIMUl4vWdd0Pq88ltvmXMW5fzl83pIc2GQdS15T8nbbw2b2SwMm31x9IEX3o808ZxNbB7haldiTmNOfhD830Xh35UzDpIUt9A4FHzdzUYzt1GNkXxL8kdZnPhnTXe-DQa7yFzzwS4uj9W3ith27g6trO6j110gYGKq41eIcp4Re1JsEkeMOsU8xHoZA17mtHH4HC8Nnxi0yaHrT7BOCeyHy3TnEn2~gVRfPnjteM8fkgyGCwNKnnWGvhmt3Q5scF6tckETHlAMkwqUyZrH75BaKQ-pJJPrpunFOEHCtXdPP9NMyKng__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-04-02T06:39:41Z","article","David Herlihan, executive director of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, told the committee the board opposes a provision in S.28 that would allow medication to terminate a pregnancy to be prescribed based solely on an adaptive questionnaire without interaction between prescriber and patient.

“My understanding … is that there should be some kind of interaction between the prescriber and the patient,” Herlihan said. He told members the board accepts asynchronous communication — for example, time‑delayed chat — but opposed a model in which a prescription issues only when a questionnaire’s automated algorithm returns a result without any back‑and‑forth.

Herlihan said the board’s policy and Vermont statutory practice standards require “some level of interaction” and that those standards were created in part to address concerns about prescribing based only on questionnaires and automated systems. He told the committee the board has disciplined providers in the past for operating questionnaire‑only systems and urged the committee not to create “the only exception” in Vermont law that would allow prescriptions to issue without interaction.

Committee members asked Herlihan what the board would consider “meaningful” interaction. He answered that it depends on circumstances but that the standard requires a “meaningful exchange” — not merely the patient filling out a form — so a prescriber can ask follow‑up questions and identify cases where medication might not be safe.

Several committee members raised access and confidentiality concerns. One member said adaptive questionnaires could help people who face monitoring or coercion. Herlihan replied that the systems can be configured to require a chat or other follow‑up in Vermont cases and that creating such a connection need not delay access. “They wouldn't even have to reprogram their system,” he said about providers that use national platforms; “they would have to have some kind of communication.”

The committee also heard from pharmacy representatives and the Department of Health. A pharmacist testifying to the committee said removing prescribers' names from pharmacy labels would “just can't happen,” citing state and federal requirements, pharmacy computer systems and insurer adjudication practices. Christina McLaughlin of the pharmacists’ association told the committee, “That's what Jeff described is technically right,” and said pharmacies are unsure how to comply if law changes require blank labels for certain medications.

Jesse Hammond of the Department of Health described how vital records handle fetal deaths and induced terminations of pregnancy: individual fetal‑death and induced‑termination records are not released to the public, summary statistics are published, and the department provides deidentified aggregate information to the CDC under existing contracts. Hammond said the department had no concerns with a proposed change to shorten the retention window for certain records from five years to two years.

No formal committee votes on S.28 were recorded in the transcript provided; the transcript records testimony, questions, and discussion but not committee action. Several committee members expressed a desire to balance access and safety when drafting final language.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Healthcare - 2025-04-01 - 1:10PM","oneSentenceSummary","David Herlihan, executive director of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, told the committee the board opposes a provision in S.28 that would allow medication to terminate a pregnancy to be prescribed based solely on an adaptive questionnaire without interaction between prescriber and patient.","taxTitle","Health Care, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",30956,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6093934,"Committee to reinstate two missing provisions in S.30 health insurance reorganization bill",481,0,481000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920&start=0&end=481","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920/thumbnail_0.jpg","/articles/6093934/Vermont/Committee-to-reinstate-two-missing-provisions-in-S30-health-insurance-reorganization-bill","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6093934-fe2b19d085218a28018c60c994f86590/orig.mp4?Expires=1771048482&Signature=KSML~h5Te45rKDhyre9q5K78AjatxM4rVB4hy-~tigdswBqYdJ6fQ93RNBpeUNjvONEbdkxKkeA~Fu2Uxzyu9db6Ot~HjSLq5sHstY7~6PABhwbgY5kp90cHU3esKA8iOyRzkUkv9sDvkV19B0rfhMx9TwI-ts~CQVGwAcGUq4hkS5ATIklHyuJVEmq-jRKyCGAO5AYchHesO-4WOutgVxGBCIgFaR3j2N4OH66i8GmnY5Llta19DaI8QSEuBrDOsvr33m92ompe-ft-FIOzXi6pnH9Ye-tiQRWYaPp~8pdWZV4dEJiG8pcdnIUXv1UNYxjfIz2852T~i8lNywM2BQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Legislative counsel told the committee she would file a two-page amendment to S.30 to restore two brief, previously omitted provisions when the committee takes final markup.

The amendment would restore a parenthetical sentence and an alternative provision that legislative counsel said had been dropped from the green book’s recent publication. Jen Carby, legislative counsel, described the change as “putting the same language back in, but putting in a chunk that was missing from the middle.”

Carby said the bill is “an act relating to updating and reorganizing health insurance statutes” and that the two insertions are narrow: they restore a parenthetical about a three‑year initial period and an alternative provision currently present in existing law but omitted from the published supplement. Carby added she “did not do a strike all of the 80 page bill. This is a 2 page amendment.”

Committee members asked procedural questions about how the amendment would be reported on the floor. Carby explained the likely sequence: the panel would vote first to adopt the amendment and then vote to report the bill favorably as amended. One member summarized: “You will do 2 votes in here. 1 to adopt the amendment and the other to report the bill favorably as amended.”

The committee discussed whether the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) should be invited to confirm it had no concerns; a member asked to hear from DFR before final markup. No formal motion or recorded vote on the amendment appears in the transcript provided.

The committee scheduled follow-up discussion and final markup later in the week and moved on to other agenda items.","Legislative counsel told the committee she will add two previously omitted snippets of statutory language back into S.30, a bill reorganizing health insurance statutes; committee members discussed the floor procedure to adopt and report the amendment but recorded no formal vote in the transcript.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6093924,"Health Department says fetal‑death and termination records remain confidential; supports shortening one retention period",142,4282000,4424000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920&start=4282&end=4424","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2845249-4e66f2443ed88d116e3fd15c0b369920/thumbnail_4282000.jpg","/articles/6093924/Vermont/Health-Department-says-fetaldeath-and-termination-records-remain-confidential-supports-shortening-one-retention-period","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6093924-ef9207ce909806ba78f1ae5cfb08da33/orig.mp4?Expires=1771048482&Signature=fMIYH3k03RNd5zJ9wRWGG7wRNp1h7IHIwowGofmWCBt7zN7dbQqLNzZs81NINNZY-~3R--CUcYBpntO2c00Nan8tp9eJ0D6jPJe-npUiWpyVegemBpLLhXrF898kQ1T99ZwIAiO26vbYPxMeFmpQYopnh4ZlmIPXCvDBzJ1trIRJtYyRrZlF7c~crVXf6A3HNs5yBAFJLY~Zts3Jl57lPnxsiXOeDxdIesoEZsNccpjLGxJ7rnLrtRu2SkJRXdOdm30xTGqaI4cG4vX24AB5NDXjNv5W2V869h3aUN5ntSxSmImMNyZuT0gzQCrVbMkQrQmhS5DMq0OIQWGUtKsRng__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Jesse Hammond of the Vermont Department of Health told the committee that fetal‑death reports (generally for fetal deaths at 20 or more weeks’ gestation or, when gestational age is unknown, at 400 grams or more) and induced terminations of pregnancy are not available to the public and that the department shares only deidentified aggregate data for national reporting.

“Our program produces a bulletin annually that summarizes all vital events,” Hammond said, and added that “individual fetal‑death reports are not released,” while the department provides deidentified data to the Centers for Disease Control as required by contract.

Committee members asked whether the department collects identifying information for induced terminations of pregnancy and whether federal requirements could force disclosure. Hammond said the department does not collect the birthing parent’s identifying information for induced terminations; that information remains with the provider or hospital.

A member asked whether the department had concerns about the bill’s proposal to change a confidentiality/retention period from five years to two years; Hammond said the department had no concerns with the proposed change.

Hammond summarized the public‑health uses of vital records: monitoring trends in causes of death and birth interventions, supporting program evaluation, and providing annual summary statistics. He noted that fetal‑death reports and induced termination records are used in aggregate analysis but are not released individually to the public.","The Department of Health described how vital records are handled: fetal‑death reports (20+ weeks or 400+ grams) and induced terminations of pregnancy are not released to the public; the department said it had no concerns with a proposed change shortening a retention period from five years to two years.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Board of Medical Practice urges against exception for questionnaire‑only prescriptions in S.28

Committee to reinstate two missing provisions in S.30 health insurance reorganization bill

Health Department says fetal‑death and termination records remain confidential; supports shortening one retention period