Senate defeats amendment on age cutoff but passes H.237 expanding prescribing by doctoral psychologists
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Summary
The Senate rejected an amendment that would have imposed an age-based barrier to prescribing by doctoral psychologists, then approved H.237 in concurrence after debate about protections for elderly patients and collaborative clinical protocols.
The Senate on third reading on April 8 debated and then approved H.237, an act to permit prescribing by doctoral-level psychologists, after defeating a proposed amendment that would have imposed an age-based cutoff on prescriptive authority.
Senator from Franklin offered the amendment, arguing the bill’s absolute age cutoff could conflict with federal law and unduly bar care. The senator said the amendment would instead require a written collaborative agreement and a protocol for a clinical risk assessment, including review of prescription-drug interactions, and would allow age to be considered only as one medical factor rather than an exclusive disqualification. "You cannot make medical determinations on the basis of age," the senator said, urging a diagnostic, case-by-case approach.
The senior senator from Chittenden Southeast, describing the Health and Welfare Committee’s review, urged colleagues to reject the amendment, citing concerns about elderly patients’ vulnerability to polypharmacy and physiological changes that raise risks from certain medications. The senator cited committee findings about increased adverse drug-reaction risk for patients taking multiple medications and argued the committee’s statutory language offered greater protection for older patients.
A division was requested after a voice vote; the clerk announced the division result for the proposed amendment as 11 in favor and 15 opposed, and the amendment failed. The clerk then read H.237 for third reading, and the presiding officer put the question on passage in concurrence. The presiding officer announced that the ayes had it and H.237 passed in concurrence.
The debate focused on balancing prescriptive expansion for some psychologists with procedural safeguards for patients of advanced age, including a written collaborative agreement and clinical-risk assessment protocol that proponents said would allow appropriate oversight without an absolute age bar. The Senate did not adopt the age-cutoff amendment but approved H.237 as written.
