Legislative Council presents S.30 to renumber and reorganize Vermont health insurance statutes

On March 20, Jen Harvey of the Office of Legislative Counsel presented S.30, a technical bill to repeal and recodify the health insurance statutes currently in 8 V.S.A. chapter 107 and replace them with a reorganized chapter numbered 107, saying the measure is intended to “update and reorganize the health insurance statutes” and to improve clarity without making substantive policy changes.

Harvey told the council she worked closely with the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) to group related topics into new subchapters — general provisions, policy forms and filing requirements, group coverage (including Vermont’s COBRA‑style continuation and conversion provisions), termination and replacement, other forms of coverage, child and dependent coverage, internal and external review, required covered benefits (mandates), prescription drug coverage, prevention and treatment of cancer, and service delivery and treatment modalities (including telehealth and audio‑only coverage). She said the draft adds chapter‑wide definitions (for example, “covered individual,” “health care services,” “health insurance plan,” “health insurer,” and “major medical insurance”) so drafting is consistent across the reorganized chapter.

Harvey emphasized the…