Senate Health & Welfare hears testimony on S.28 to expand provider protections, authorize remote questionnaires for medication abortion

The Senate Committee on Health & Welfare on Feb. 13 heard testimony on S.28, an act described by witnesses as aiming to protect access to legally protected health care services and to clarify privacy and professional-conduct rules for clinicians.

Proponents and health-system representatives told the committee they generally support several provisions in S.28 but urged changes to avoid overly broad discipline standards and to add privacy and data‑sharing protections. Devin Green of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, Jessica Barnard of the Vermont Medical Society, and Jessica Barquist, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, testified.

Supporters told the committee they back section 1s expansion of consumer‑protection language and changes that would let prescribers request that identifying contact information be removed from prescription labeling for reproductive and gender‑affirming care. At the same time, several witnesses cautioned that the bills unprofessional‑conduct provisions in sections 3 through 7 are written broadly and could apply to routine clinical communications.

"We support the language in the first section around unfair and deceptive acts and practices and expanding that to all health care providers," said Devin Green, Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, adding that "where we have a little bit of caution is section 3 and the unprofessional conduct piece."

Jessica Barnard of the Vermont Medical Society said the bill fills gaps left after Acts 14 and 15 of 2023 and that the society supports allowing a clinician–patient relationship to be established via an adaptive questionnaire specifically for medication abortion. "We support amending Vermont statute that would allow establishing a clinician patient relationship via an adaptive questionnaire, specific to medication abortion services, not for all services," Barnard said, stressing the need for adaptive follow-up questions and that prescribers must meet the same standard of care as in‑person visits.

Barnard and Green both asked the committee to allow additional time for the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), the Board of Medical Practice and affected providers to tighten the unprofessional‑conduct language. Committee members asked stakeholders to work together to refine definitions such as "failing to review and approve information" and what constitutes "actively monitoring" delegates.

Planned Parenthood's Barquist urged broader privacy protections and asked that the provision be extended beyond abortion to reproductive and gender‑affirming care. She also recommended considering prohibitions on recording abortion or gender‑affirming care in the state's prescription drug monitoring system for controlled substances used in gender‑affirming care.

Witnesses cited external guidance and prior Vermont laws: Barnard referenced guidance from the Federation of State Medical Boards and the state's prior SHIELD laws (Acts 14 and 15 of 2023) as background to the bills aims to protect practitioners and patients from cross‑jurisdictional legal actions.

The committee did not take a vote on S.28. Chairs asked stakeholders and regulators to continue negotiations with OPR and the Board of Medical Practice and to submit revised language to the committee before markup.

S.28 remains under discussion; committee staff indicated they will accept additional written testimony and redrafts from the parties working with OPR.