Senate Health & Welfare reviews S.28 to extend shield protections, tighten patient-data limits and pharmacy redaction rules

The Senate Health & Welfare Committee reviewed S.28, a bill returned from the House that would expand Vermont's definition of "legally protected health care activity" to cover some acts or omissions undertaken in other U.S. jurisdictions and add new confidentiality and noncooperation protections for patients and providers.

The discussion centered on reciprocity for out-of-state care (including telemedicine), a broadened noncooperation provision that includes some federal inquiries, limits on disclosure of protected health information to government entities outside Vermont, and new pharmacy redaction requirements for certain noncontrolled medications.

Jen Harvey, counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel, walked the committee through the House markup. She said the bill's new definition would extend protections "to a person who has previously undertaken 1 or more acts or omissions while in another U.S. jurisdiction" so long as those acts were lawful in the jurisdiction where they occurred and "would have been protected by this state if they were undertaken in this state." Harvey described the change as a form of reciprocity aimed at situations such as telemedicine: "This could be a physician performing telemedicine services," she said.

Harvey told senators the measure is intended to protect providers and patients when Vermont's public policy aligns with the other jurisdiction's policy. She noted approximately 18 states have some form of shield law for legally protected health…