Conference committee advances broad healthcare plan, adds advisory and steering committees and new reporting requirements

Committee members continued a conference committee on the fiscal/health bill for 2026, discussing several sections that add advisory bodies, require new reports and timelines, and direct short-term hospital-spending reductions.

The committee considered adding a statewide Health Care Delivery Advisory Committee, creating a Comprehensive Primary Health Care Steering Committee with representation from primary care and allied professions, and ordering multiple reports and updates from the Agency of Human Services (AHS) and other agencies on data integration, hospital spending reductions and insurer stability.

The changes to Section 9 would add a Health Care Delivery Advisory Committee with purposes that include establishing health care affordability benchmarks, evaluating and monitoring system performance and leading development of a statewide health care delivery strategic plan. Committee members debated the advisory committee's membership: the Senate version listed 14 members while the House expanded the roll to include a member of the Health Equity Advisory Commission, separate representatives for physicians and independent physician practices, an advanced practice registered nurse chosen by the Vermont Nurse Practitioners Association, a small-business representative selected by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and an executive director (or designee) from the Vermont Program for Quality Health Care (VPQHC). The House language also specifies that members shall not receive per diem compensation or reimbursement of expenses.

On the Comprehensive Primary Health Care Steering Committee, the committee discussed the proposal to create a 16-member steering body to inform state government, the Blueprint for Health and the Office of Health Care Reform on…