House amends H.96 to raise certificate-of-need monetary thresholds; third reading ordered

Representative Cortez of Bristol, speaking for the House Committee on Health Care, presented a strike-all amendment to H.96 on the House floor and described it as a package of changes to Vermont's certificate-of-need (CON) rules designed to reduce regulatory burden and increase access to health care services.

The amendment raises several monetary thresholds that trigger the CON review overseen by the Green Mountain Care Board. Under the amendment, thresholds for nonhospital health care facilities would increase, including a construction/development/renovation threshold raised to $10,000,000 from $1,500,000; the single-piece diagnostic or therapeutic equipment threshold to $5,000,000 from $1,000,000; an annual operating expense trigger to $3,000,000 from $500,000; and an ambulatory surgery center project threshold to $10,000,000. For hospitals, comparable thresholds were raised, including a…