Senate moves to amend H.80 to update Office of the Health Care Advocate

The Vermont Senate on April 8 voted to propose amendments recommended by the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare and ordered third reading of H.80, a bill that updates state law governing the Office of the Health Care Advocate to reflect the office’s current duties and procedures.

Senator Gulick, the committee’s reporter, told colleagues the bill brings statutes into line with work the advocate already performs and urged support. “Please call the health care advocate’s office. They run a helpline available to anyone in Vermont, and they help folks experiencing barriers that interfere with getting the care that they need,” Gulick said during the committee report.

The committee report said the amendments strengthen the HCA’s ability to ask questions of insurers in the Green Mountain Care Board’s rate review process, clarify the HCA’s and the long-term care ombudsman’s roles in certificate-of-need reviews, and update Title 18, chapter 229 (subsections cited in committee as 9602–9606) to reflect the office’s expanded duties. The bill also clarifies when state…