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House Committee backs confidentiality protections for peer support counseling for emergency responders
Summary
The Vermont House moved H270 forward after a Health Care Committee recommendation to adopt a strike-all amendment. The bill would create confidentiality protections and a Public Records Act exemption for peer support communications among emergency service providers while enumerating statutory exceptions and retaining HIPAA obligations.
The Vermont House advanced H270 on second reading after a detailed committee report that recommends a strike-all amendment to establish confidentiality protections for peer support communications among emergency service providers.
Representative Leaders, speaking for the House Health Care Committee, said the bill would create "the support of a trained peer and to do so with the protections of confidentiality." The measure would add a new statutory section (identified in the committee report as 18 VSA 7257c) defining emergency service provider peer support programs, peer support communications and peer support specialists, and it would create both confidentiality protections and a Public Records Act exemption for written peer-support communications.
The committee described enumerated exceptions to confidentiality that would allow disclosure when there is a threat of suicide or homicide, information relating to abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, conduct likely to pose a risk to public safety, or any admission of a plan to commit a crime. The committee also clarified that providers and programs subject to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) would remain bound by HIPAA obligations even when peer-support communications occur.
The bill would provide civil-liability protections for employers, peer support specialists, and peer support programs except where conduct amounts to gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. The committee reported testimony in support from the Burlington Fire Department, Vermont State Police Special Operations, the Vermont Police Association and other stakeholders and indicated the bill reflects an initiative of the Vermont Emergency Service Providers Wellness Commission.
The committee reported a favorable vote of 11–0 to advance the amended bill. The House adopted the committee’s amendment and ordered third reading.
If enacted as described in the committee report, the bill’s effective date is listed as July 1, 2026. The committee and presenters described the measure as a way to increase access to confidential peer support and to encourage early interventions and referrals to more intensive care when needed.
The House’s action orders the bill for third reading; no final passage on the floor was recorded in the transcript during this session.
