Committee reviews H.80 to expand Office of the Health Care Advocate’s access and role

A legislative committee heard testimony on H.80, an act relating to the Office of the Health Care Advocate, which would expand the office’s role in insurance rate reviews and certificate-of-need proceedings and update its statutory duties.

The bill would allow the Office of the Health Care Advocate (HCA) to submit written questions that the Green Mountain Care Board would be required to ask insurers during rate-review proceedings; broaden the office’s statutory scope from strictly health insurance matters to include access to health care; permit the office to be administered by more than one director (one of whom would be the chief health care advocate); strengthen agencies’ obligation to seek the office’s input on health‑care policy; and add confidentiality language that would limit information sharing "to the extent permitted by law." The act would take effect July 1.

The changes to rate-review procedures are concentrated in Title 8 provisions. Jen Harvey of the Office of Legislative Counsel said the bill changes the HCA’s role from submitting "suggested questions" for the board’s contracting actuary to submitting questions the board "shall ask the insurer either directly or through its contracting actuary, if any." Harvey also summarized a transparency change that would require the board to make the full record of a rate-review proceeding available to the public after redacting information the board determines to be confidential.

Charles Becker, staff attorney for the Office of the Health Care Advocate, told the committee the primary purpose…