Senate Health & Welfare explores law change to give board access to hospital network records

Senators on the Senate Health & Welfare Committee heard from Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer and Chief Auditor Tanya Morehouse during a committee meeting about possible legislation to give the Green Mountain Care Board access to records held by hospital networks so regulators can trace financial flows between Vermont and out‑of‑state hospitals.

Hoffer said state financial audits exist for individual hospitals but that digging into transfers between hospitals and a related network will require records held by the network itself. "You can't go anywhere until you address the question of access to records from the network itself," Hoffer said. He told the committee the network is not currently covered by authority granted to the Green Mountain Care Board and recommended amending the statute if the board needs broader access or budget‑approval authority over the network.

Tanya Morehouse, chief auditor with the Vermont State Auditor's Office, recommended…