Human Services committee staff reviews major acts from 2023–24 biennium, highlighting opioid reforms and overdose-prevention funding

Committee staff on Monday gave members of the House Human Services Committee a rundown of legislation enacted in the 2023–24 biennium, with attorneys from the Office of Legislative Counsel pointing to major changes in opioid treatment policy, new authority for an overdose prevention center pilot in Burlington, and revisions to civil-commitment and residential-recovery procedures.

The review, led by Katie McLennan, Office of Legislative Counsel, and Jen Carvey, Office of Legislative Counsel, covered a broad set of enactments the committee handled last session. "We are gonna spend some time this morning looking at prior legislation and reports due to the committee," the committee chair opened, describing the session as an oversight check to see whether enacted laws are being implemented as intended.

Why it matters: The measures touch Medicaid coverage, criminal-justice protections for overdose-prevention services, mental-health commitment processes and programmatic rules that shape care delivery for people with substance-use disorders, developmental disabilities and other needs. Several laws also require agency reports that the committee will use in upcoming budget and policy reviews.

Most notable policy changes

Act 22 (opioid treatment and harm reduction): McLennan and Carvey summarized comprehensive changes to Vermont’s opioid treatment rules. The law: (a) expanded coverage and reduced utilization controls for medications to treat opioid use disorder (OUD), directing the Agency of Human Services (AHS) to provide Medicaid coverage for medically necessary OUD medications when prescribed by an appropriately licensed and Medicaid-participating provider; (b) required pending Drug Utilization Review Board approval that AHS cover at least one medication in…