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Senate amends H.96 to consolidate certificate-of-need monetary thresholds; committee gives straw-poll approval
Summary
A legislative committee reviewed the Senate'proposed amendments to H.96, which consolidate monetary thresholds for certificates of need across health care facilities, remove a hospital-specific subsection and fold ambulatory surgical centers into a single definition; the panel gave a straw-poll approval ahead of the bill's next action.
A legislative committee reviewed Senate amendments to H.96 on increasing monetary thresholds for certificates of need and gave a straw-poll signal of support ahead of the bill's next action.
The committee heard from Jen Carby of the Office of Legislative Council, who presented a markup showing that the Senate'proposed language removed a separate hospital subsection and a separate line for ambulatory surgical centers, instead placing all facilities under a single statutory provision. "We took out the reference to a healthcare facility other than a hospital and then deleted the whole subsection on hospitals," Carby said, adding that ambulatory surgical centers remain defined in statute and are included in the broader "health care facility" definition.
Committee members were told the change is largely technical: the monetary thresholds previously applied the same way to hospitals and non-hospital facilities, and the amendment simply consolidates that language into one statutory provision. Carby also described a senate-added exclusion: projects and services owned or operated by the state or substantially funded by a state contractor grant would be excluded from certificate-of-need review so long as the sponsoring state agency informs the Green Mountain Care Board "prior to commencing the project or within 30 days following the execution of the contractor grant." She said the notice is intended so "the board has an awareness of all of the projects and services that are coming online in the state."
The committee discussed the scope and purpose of that notice: some members said it was intended only to inform the board so it can maintain a systemwide view, while others said broader oversight of statewide projects might be better handled in a separate bill or the statewide delivery plan. A member suggested the policy vehicle S.126 could be used to address additional oversight if needed. Carby confirmed the Senate did not change the committee's increased monetary thresholds or most other substantive elements.
Members also noted a Senate change to the bill's effective date, moving certain provisions from a July 1 effective date to "on passage," and clarifying treatment of applications already in process: applications with interested-party status remain active; applicants without interested-party status may withdraw under the earlier effective date.
On a nonbinding straw poll, the committee indicated support for accepting the Senate'proposed amendments. The chair called the tally "10 0 1," indicating the committee's informal vote count.
The committee paused its review to move to other agenda items and planned to resume further consideration after other business.
Ending: The committee will take formal action on H.96 at its next scheduled session; the Senate'proposed consolidations and the state-project notice will move forward for additional consideration in that context.
