Senate committee debates licensure, safety rules and insurance coverage for freestanding birth centers in S.18

The Senate Health Committee continued work on S.18, a bill to license freestanding birth centers and set standards for their operation, transfers and insurance coverage.

Legislative counsel Jen Harvey described the bill as a senate‑passed measure to create licensure and rulemaking authority for birth centers. Members and witnesses focused discussion on several substantive points: how to define “low risk” deliveries, what services should be prohibited or reserved for hospitals, written transfer and collaboration procedures, ownership and staffing questions, insurance payment of facility fees, and whether birth centers should be exempt from certificate‑of‑need requirements.

Why it matters: S.18 would create a licensure pathway and regulatory framework for freestanding birth centers in Vermont. The statute’s definitions, the scope of permitted services and the approach to transfers and insurance coverage directly affect patient safety, payment and whether Medicaid will cover births at licensed centers.

Key outcomes and committee directions - Definitions and rulemaking: Committee members declined to adopt an expanded statutory definition of “low risk perinatal care” proposed by the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) because that language would cover the entire perinatal period and could be broader than the committee intends. Instead the committee asked counsel to rely on rulemaking to define risk factors that would preclude labor and delivery at a licensed birth center. Jen Harvey: “You could have some of that fleshed out more in rulemaking if that seems important.” - Transfers and written policies: The committee agreed that birth centers must…