18 V.S.A. § 40 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 1 / Section 40
§ 40. Vermont Dental Hygienist Forgivable Loan Incentive Program
Status: in_force

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Corporation” means the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation established in 16 V.S.A. § 2821.

(2) “Eligible individual” means an individual who satisfies the eligibility requirements under this section for a forgivable loan.

(3) “Eligible school” means an approved postsecondary education institution, as defined under 16 V.S.A. § 2822.

(4) “Forgivable loan” means a loan awarded under this section covering tuition, which may also include room, board, and the cost of required books and supplies for up to full-time attendance at an eligible school.

(5) “Program” means the Vermont Dental Hygienist Forgivable Loan Incentive Program created under this section.

(b) The Vermont Dental Hygienist Forgivable Loan Incentive Program is created and shall be administered by the Department of Health in collaboration with the Corporation. The Program provides forgivable loans to students enrolled in an eligible school who commit to working as a dental hygienist in this State and who meet the eligibility requirements in subsection (d) of this section.

(c) The Corporation shall disburse forgivable loan funds under the Program on behalf of eligible individuals, subject to the appropriation of funds by the General Assembly for this purpose.

(d) To be eligible for a forgivable loan under the Program, an individual, whether a resident or nonresident, shall satisfy all of the following requirements:

(1) be enrolled at a dental hygienist program at an eligible school;

(2) maintain good standing at the eligible school at which the individual is enrolled;

(3) agree to work as a dental hygienist in Vermont for a minimum of one year following licensure for each year of forgivable loan awarded;

(4) have executed a credit agreement or promissory note that will reduce the individual's forgivable loan benefit, in whole or in part, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, if the individual fails to complete the period of service required in this subsection;

(5) have completed the Program's application form and such financial aid forms as the Corporation deems necessary, in accordance with a schedule determined by the Corporation; and

(6) have provided such other documentation as the Corporation may require.

(e) If an eligible individual fails to serve as a dental hygienist in this State for a period that would entitle the individual to the full forgivable loan benefit received by the individual, other than for good cause as determined by the Corporation in consultation with the Vermont Department of Health, then the individual shall receive only partial loan forgiveness for a pro rata portion of the loan pursuant to the terms of the interest-free credit agreement or promissory note signed by the individual at the time of entering the Program.

(f) There shall be no deadline to apply for a forgivable loan under this section. Forgivable loans shall be awarded on a rolling basis as long as funds are available, and any funds remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall roll over and shall be available to the Department of Health and the Corporation in the following fiscal year to award additional forgivable loans as set forth in this section.

(g) The Corporation shall adopt policies, procedures, and guidelines necessary to implement the provisions of this section, including maximum forgivable loan amounts.

(h) Forgivable loans shall be awarded on a rolling basis, provided funds are available, and any funds remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall carry forward and shall be available to the Department of Health and the Corporation in the following fiscal year to award additional forgivable loans as set forth in this section.
18 V.S.A. § 4061 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 82 / Section 4061
§ 4061. Rules regarding permits; investigation
Status: in_force

(a) Whenever the Department finds after investigation that the distribution in Vermont of any class of food may, by reason of contamination with microorganisms during manufacture, processing, or packing thereof in any locality, be injurious to health, and that the injurious nature cannot be adequately determined after the articles have entered commerce, it then, and in that case only, shall adopt rules providing for the issuance to manufacturers, processors, or packers of that class of food in that locality, of permits to which shall be attached such conditions governing the manufacture, processing, or packing of that class of food and for such temporary period of time, as may be necessary to protect the public health, and after the effective date of the rules and during the temporary period, no person shall introduce or deliver for introduction into commerce any such food manufactured, processed, or packed by any such manufacturer, processor, or packer unless the manufacturer, processor, or packer holds a permit issued by the Department as provided by the rules.

(b) The Department is authorized to suspend immediately upon notice any permit issued under authority of this section if it is found that any of the conditions of the permit have been violated. The holder of a permit so suspended shall be privileged at any time to apply for the reinstatement of the permit and the Department shall, immediately after prompt hearing and inspection of the establishment, reinstate the permit if it is found that adequate measures have been taken to comply with and maintain the conditions of the permit, as originally issued, or as amended.

(c) Any officer or employee duly designated by the Department shall have access to any factory or establishment, the operator of which holds a permit from the Department, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the conditions of the permit are being complied with, and denial of access for the inspection shall be grounds for suspension of the permit until the access is freely given by the operator.
18 V.S.A. § 9481 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9481
§ 9481. Definitions
Status: in_force

As used in this subchapter:

(1) “Amount generally billed” means the amount a large health care facility generally bills to individuals for emergency or other medically necessary health care services, determined using the “look-back method” set forth in 26 C.F.R. § 1.501(r)-5(b)(3).

(2) “Credit reporting agency” means a person who, for fees, dues, or on a cooperative basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating information concerning a consumer's credit or other information for the purpose of furnishing a credit report to another person.

(3) “Health care provider” means a person, partnership, corporation, facility, or institution licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide professional health care services in this State to an individual during that individual's medical care, treatment, or confinement.

(4) “Health care services” means services for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure, or relief of a physical, dental, behavioral, or mental health condition or substance use disorder, including procedures, products, devices, and medications.

(5) “Household income” means income calculated in accordance with the financial methodologies for determining financial eligibility for advance premium tax credits under 26 C.F.R. § 1.36B-2, including the method used to calculate household size, with the following modifications:

(A) domestic partners, and any individual who is considered a dependent of either partner for federal income tax purposes, shall be treated as members of the same household;

(B) married individuals who file federal income tax returns separately but could file jointly, and any individual who is considered a dependent of one or both spouses for federal income tax purposes, shall be treated as members of the same household;

(C) married individuals who are living separately while their divorce is pending shall not be treated as members of the same household, regardless of whether they are filing federal income tax returns jointly or separately; and

(D) household income for individuals who are not required to file a federal income tax return, and for undocumented immigrants who have not filed a federal income tax return, shall be calculated as if they had filed a federal income tax return.

(6) “Large health care facility” means each of the following health care providers:

(A) a hospital licensed pursuant to chapter 43 of this title;

(B) an outpatient clinic or facility affiliated with or operating under the license of a hospital licensed pursuant to chapter 43 of this title; and

(C) an ambulatory surgical center licensed pursuant to chapter 49 of this title.

(7) “Medical creditor” means a large health care facility to whom a consumer owes money for health care services.

(8) “Medical debt” means a debt arising from the receipt of health care services.

(9) “Medical debt collector” means an individual or entity that regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, medical debts originally owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due, to another individual or entity.

(10) “Medically necessary health care services” means health care services, including diagnostic testing, preventive services, and after care, that are appropriate to the patient's diagnosis or condition in terms of type, amount, frequency, level, setting, and duration. Medically necessary care must:

(A) be informed by generally accepted medical or scientific evidence and be consistent with generally accepted practice parameters as recognized by health care professions in the same specialties as typically provide the procedure or treatment, or diagnose or manage the medical condition;

(B) be informed by the unique needs of each individual patient and each presenting situation; and

(C) meet one or more of the following criteria:

(i) help restore or maintain the patient's health;

(ii) prevent deterioration of or palliate the patient's condition; or

(iii) prevent the reasonably likely onset of a health problem or detect an incipient problem.

(11) “Patient” means the individual who receives or received health care services and shall include a parent if the patient is a minor or a legal guardian if the patient is a minor or adult under guardianship.

(12) “Vermont resident” means an individual, regardless of citizenship and including undocumented immigrants, who resides in Vermont, is employed by a Vermont employer to deliver services for the employer in this State in the normal course of the employee's employment, or attends school in Vermont, or a combination of these. The term includes an individual who is living in Vermont at the time that services are received but who lacks stable permanent housing.
18 V.S.A. § 9008 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 209 / Section 9008
§ 9008. Guardians-Article VIII
Status: in_force

(a) Nothing in this compact shall be construed to abridge, diminish, or in any way impair the rights, duties, and responsibilities of any patient's guardian on his or her own behalf or in respect of any patient for whom he or she may serve, except that where the transfer of any patient to another jurisdiction makes advisable the appointment of a supplemental or substitute guardian, any court of competent jurisdiction in the receiving state may make such supplemental or substitute appointment and the court that appointed the previous guardian shall, upon being duly advised of the new appointment and upon the satisfactory completion of such accounting and other acts as such court may by law require, relieve the previous guardian of power and responsibility to whatever extent shall be appropriate in the circumstances; provided, however, that in the case of any patient having settlement in the sending state, the court of competent jurisdiction in the sending state shall have the sole discretion to relieve a guardian appointed by it or continue his or her power and responsibility, whichever it shall deem advisable. The court in the receiving state may, in its discretion, confirm or reappoint the person or persons previously serving as guardian in the sending state in lieu of making a supplemental or substitute appointment.

(b) The term “guardian” as used in paragraph (a) of this article shall include any guardian, trustee, legal committee, conservator, or other person or agency, however denominated, who is charged by law with power to act for or responsibility for the person or property of a patient.
18 V.S.A. § 5433 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5433
§ 5433. Authority; powers
Status: in_force

Upon filing the articles of incorporation, the incorporators and other members, if any, from the date of such filing, shall be and constitute a body corporate with perpetual succession and with capacity to perform all acts within the State not repugnant to law or the provisions of this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 1901 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 43 / Section 1901
§ 1901. Policy
Status: in_force

The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the development, establishment, and enforcement of standards for the construction, maintenance, and operation of hospitals, which, in the light of advancing knowledge, will promote safe and adequate treatment of persons in hospitals.
18 V.S.A. § 7109 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 171 / Section 7109
§ 7109. Sale of articles; revolving fund
Status: in_force

(a) The superintendent of a hospital or training school may sell articles made by the patients or students in the handiwork or occupational therapy departments of the institution and the proceeds thereof shall be credited to a revolving fund. When it is for their best interest, the superintendent may, with the consent of the patients or their legal representatives, employ patients or students or permit them to be employed on a day placement basis.

(b) The consent of the patient or the legal representative of the patient or student shall, in consideration of the undertaking of the superintendent, contain the further agreement that one-half the earnings of the patient or student shall be credited to the personal account of the patient or student so employed at interest for benefit of the patient or student and the balance shall be credited to the fund. The superintendent shall hold and expend the fund for the purchase of equipment and materials for the handicraft or group therapy departments and for the educational and recreational welfare of the patient or student group. He or she shall submit an annual report of the fund to the Commissioner. Balances remaining in it at the end of a fiscal year shall be carried forward and be available for the succeeding fiscal year.

(c) For purposes of this section the legal representative of the patient or student shall be the duly appointed guardian, the spouse, the parents, or the next of kin legally responsible for the patient or student. In their absence, the Commissioner shall be the legal representative.
18 V.S.A. § 4467 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 85 / Section 4467
§ 4467. Posting contact information
Status: in_force

A short-term rental operator shall post within the unit a telephone number for the person responsible for the unit and the contact information for the Department of Health and the Department of Public Safety's Division of Fire Safety.
18 V.S.A. § 5537 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5537
§ 5537. Heirs
Status: in_force

If an heir or other person entitled to such lot appears within 17 years after the date of such decree and files a claim with the Probate Division of the Superior Court that made such decree, and establishes a claim to such lot, the heir or other person shall have possession of the same, or if sold, the agency shall be accountable for the avails of such sale, without interest, to the persons entitled thereto, after deducting charges and costs incurred by the agency in connection therewith. A claim not made within 17 years shall be barred.
18 V.S.A. § 9496 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 223 / Section 9496
§ 9496. Definitions
Status: in_force

As used in this subchapter:

(1) “Health care provider” means a person, partnership, or corporation, including a health care facility, that is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide professional health care services in this State to an individual during that individual's medical care, treatment, or confinement.

(2) “Public entity” means:

(A) the Legislative, Executive, or Judicial Branch of State Government, or any agency, department, office, or other subdivision of State government, or any elective or appointive officer or employee within any of those branches; or

(B) any municipality, or any agency, department, office, or other subdivision of municipal government, or any elective or appointive officer or employee within municipal government.
18 V.S.A. § 7260 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 174 / Section 7260
§ 7260. Mental health response service guidelines
Status: in_force

(a) The Department shall develop guidelines for use by municipalities, including use by emergency medical technicians and public safety personnel, such as law enforcement officers as defined by 20 V.S.A. § 2351a and firefighters as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 3151, who are employed, volunteer, or are under contract with a municipality. The guidelines shall recommend best practices for de-escalation and for mental health response services, including crisis response services. The Department shall make the guidelines available to municipalities and publish the guidelines on the Department's website.

(b) In developing the guidelines required pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the Department shall consult with the following entities:

(1) the Department of Health;

(2) the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living;

(3) the Department of Public Safety;

(4) the Vermont Care Partners;

(5) the Vermont Psychiatric Survivors;

(6) the Vermont chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness;

(7) the Vermont Criminal Justice Council;

(8) the Vermont League of Cities and Towns;

(9) Disability Rights Vermont;

(10) the Department's State Program Standing Committees; and

(11) any other stakeholders the Department deems appropriate.
18 V.S.A. § 9473 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9473
§ 9473. Repealed. 2023, No. 127 (Adj. Sess.), § 4(a)(2), eff. July 1, 2029.
Status: in_force

(a) Within 14 calendar days following receipt of a pharmacy claim, a pharmacy benefit manager or other entity paying pharmacy claims shall do one of the following:

(1) Pay or reimburse the claim.

(2) Notify the pharmacy in writing that the claim is contested or denied. The notice shall include specific reasons supporting the contest or denial and a description of any additional information required for the pharmacy benefit manager or other payer to determine liability for the claim.

(b) A participation contract between a pharmacy benefit manager and a pharmacist shall not prohibit, restrict, or penalize a pharmacy or pharmacist in any way from disclosing to any covered person any health care information that the pharmacy or pharmacist deems appropriate, including:

(1) the nature of treatment, risks, or alternatives to treatment;

(2) the availability of alternate therapies, consultations, or tests;

(3) the decision of utilization reviewers or similar persons to authorize or deny services;

(4) the process that is used to authorize or deny health care services; or

(5) information on financial incentives and structures used by the health insurer.

(c) A pharmacy benefit manager or other entity paying pharmacy claims shall not:

(1) require a pharmacy to pass through any portion of the insured's co-payment, or patient responsibility, to the pharmacy benefit manager or other payer;

(2) prohibit a pharmacy or pharmacist from discussing information regarding the total cost for pharmacist services for a prescription drug;

(3) prohibit or penalize a pharmacy or pharmacist for providing information to an insured regarding the insured's cost-sharing amount for a prescription drug; or

(4) prohibit or penalize a pharmacy or pharmacist for the pharmacist or other pharmacy employee disclosing to an insured the cash price for a prescription drug or selling a lower cost drug to the insured if one is available.

(d) A pharmacy benefit manager contract with a participating pharmacist or pharmacy shall not prohibit, restrict, or limit disclosure of information to the Commissioner, law enforcement, or State and federal government officials, provided that:

(1) the recipient of the information represents that the recipient has the authority, to the extent provided by State or federal law, to maintain proprietary information as confidential; and

(2) prior to disclosure of information designated as confidential, the pharmacist or pharmacy:

(A) marks as confidential any document in which the information appears; and

(B) requests confidential treatment for any oral communication of the information.

(e) A pharmacy benefit manager shall not terminate a contract with or penalize a pharmacist or pharmacy due to the pharmacist or pharmacy:

(1) disclosing information about pharmacy benefit manager practices, except for information determined to be a trade secret under State law or by the Commissioner, when disclosed in a manner other than in accordance with subsection (d) of this section; or

(2) sharing any portion of the pharmacy benefit manager contract with the Commissioner pursuant to a complaint or query regarding the contract's compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

(f) For each drug for which a pharmacy benefit manager establishes a maximum allowable cost in order to determine the reimbursement rate, the pharmacy benefit manager shall do all of the following:

(1) Make available, in a format that is readily accessible and understandable by a pharmacist, the actual maximum allowable cost for each drug and the source used to determine the maximum allowable cost, which shall not be dependent upon individual beneficiary identification or benefit stage.

(2) Update the maximum allowable cost at least once every seven calendar days. In order to be subject to maximum allowable cost, a drug must be widely available for purchase by all pharmacies in the State, without limitations, from national or regional wholesalers and must not be obsolete or temporarily unavailable.

(3) Establish or maintain a reasonable administrative appeals process to allow a dispensing pharmacy provider to contest a listed maximum allowable cost.

(4)(A) Respond in writing to any appealing pharmacy provider within 10 calendar days after receipt of an appeal, provided that, except as provided in subdivision (B) of this subdivision (4), a dispensing pharmacy provider shall file any appeal within 10 calendar days from the date its claim for reimbursement is adjudicated.

(B) A pharmacy benefit manager shall allow a dispensing pharmacy provider to appeal after the 10-calendar-day appeal period set forth in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (4) if the prescription claim is subject to an audit initiated by the pharmacy benefit manager or its auditing agent.

(5) For a denied appeal, provide the reason for the denial and identify the national drug code and a Vermont-licensed wholesaler of an equivalent drug product that may be purchased by contracted pharmacies at or below the maximum allowable cost.

(6) For an appeal in which the appealing pharmacy is successful:

(A) make the change in the maximum allowable cost within 30 business days after the redetermination; and

(B) allow the appealing pharmacy or pharmacist to reverse and rebill the claim in question.

(g) A pharmacy benefit manager shall not:

(1) require a claim for a drug to include a modifier or supplemental transmission, or both, to indicate that the drug is a 340B drug unless the claim is for payment, directly or indirectly, by Medicaid; or

(2) restrict access to a pharmacy network or adjust reimbursement rates based on a pharmacy's participation in a 340B contract pharmacy arrangement.

(h)(1) A pharmacy benefit manager or other third party that reimburses a 340B covered entity for drugs that are subject to an agreement under 42 U.S.C. § 256b through the 340B drug pricing program shall not reimburse the 340B covered entity for pharmacy-dispensed drugs at a rate lower than that paid for the same drug to pharmacies that are not 340B covered entities, and the pharmacy benefit manager shall not assess any fee, charge-back, or other adjustment on the 340B covered entity on the basis that the covered entity participates in the 340B program as set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 256b.

(2) With respect to a patient who is eligible to receive drugs that are subject to an agreement under 42 U.S.C. § 256b through the 340B drug pricing program, a pharmacy benefit manager or other third party that makes payment for the drugs shall not discriminate against a 340B covered entity in a manner that prevents or interferes with the patient's choice to receive the drugs from the 340B covered entity.

(i) A pharmacy benefit manager shall not reimburse a pharmacy or pharmacist in this State an amount less than the amount the pharmacy benefit manager reimburses a pharmacy benefit manager affiliate for providing the same pharmacist services.

(j) A pharmacy benefit manager shall not restrict, limit, or impose requirements on a licensed pharmacy in excess of those set forth by the Vermont Board of Pharmacy or by other State or federal law, nor shall it withhold reimbursement for services on the basis of noncompliance with participation requirements.

(k) A pharmacy benefit manager shall provide notice to all participating pharmacies prior to changing its drug formulary.
18 V.S.A. § 4065 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 82 / Section 4065
§ 4065. New drugs; sale regulations
Status: in_force

(a) No person shall sell, deliver, offer for sale, hold for sale, or give away any new drug unless:

(1) an application with respect thereto has become effective under section 505 of the federal act; or

(2) when not subject to the federal act, unless the drug has been tested and has not been found to be unsafe for use under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling thereof and before selling or offering the drug for sale, there has been filed with the Department an application setting forth:

(i) full reports of investigations that have been made to show whether or not the drug is safe for use;

(ii) a full list of the articles used as components of the drug;

(iii) a full statement of the composition of the drug;

(iv) a full description of the methods used in and the facilities and controls used for the manufacture, processing, and packing of the drug;

(v) such samples of the drug and of the articles used as components thereof as the Department may require; and

(vi) specimens of the labeling proposed to be used for the drug.

(b) An application provided for in subdivision (a)(2) of this section shall become effective on the 60th day after the filing thereof, except that if the Commissioner finds, after giving the applicant due notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that the drug is not safe for use under the conditions prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the proposed labeling thereof, the Commissioner shall, before the effective date of the application, issue an order refusing to permit the application to become effective.

(c) This section shall not apply:

(1) to a drug intended solely for investigational use by experts qualified by scientific training and experience to investigate the safety in drugs, provided the drug is plainly labeled “for investigational use only”;

(2) to a drug sold in this State at any time before the enactment of this chapter or introduced into interstate commerce at any time before the enactment of the federal act; or

(3) to any drug that is licensed under the Virus, Serum and Toxin Act of July 1, 1902 (U.S.C. 1934 ed. title 42, chap. 4).

(d) An order refusing to permit an application under this section to become effective may be revoked by the Commissioner.
18 V.S.A. § 1693 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 33C / Section 1693
§ 1693. Repealed. 2023, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. January 1, 2026.
Status: in_force

The Attorney General may request a certificate of compliance from a manufacturer of ski wax. Within 30 days after receipt of the Attorney General's request for a certificate of compliance, the manufacturer shall:

(1) provide the Attorney General with a certificate attesting that the manufacturer's product or products comply with the requirements of this chapter; or

(2) notify persons who are selling a product of the manufacturer's in this State that the sale is prohibited because the product does not comply with this chapter and submit to the Attorney General a list of the names and addresses of those persons notified.
18 V.S.A. § 1415 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 28 / Section 1415
§ 1415. Division of Occupational Health
Status: in_force

To implement the policy of the State expressed in 21 V.S.A. § 201, and to continue the functions of the Division of Industrial Hygiene, there is created within the Department of Health the Division of Occupational Health, which shall be administered by the Director of Occupational Health under direction and control of the Commissioner of Health. The Division is the successor to and a continuation of the Division of Industrial Hygiene.
18 V.S.A. § 5250s — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 110 / Section 5250s
§ 5250s. Law governing validity; choice of law as to execution of document of gift; presumption of validity
Status: in_force

(a) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance with:

(1) this chapter;

(2) the laws of the state or country where it was executed; or

(3) the laws of the state or country where the person making the anatomical gift was domiciled, has a place of residence, or was a national at the time the document of gift was executed.

(b) If a document of gift is valid under this section, the law of this State governs the interpretation of the document of gift.

(c) A person may presume that a document of gift or amendment of an anatomical gift is valid unless that person knows that it was not validly executed or was revoked.
18 V.S.A. § 9437 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9437
§ 9437. Criteria
Status: repealed

A certificate of need shall be granted if the applicant demonstrates that the project serves the public good and the Board finds:

(1) The proposed project aligns with statewide health care reform goals and principles because the project:

(A) takes into consideration health care payment and delivery system reform initiatives;

(B) addresses current and future community needs in a manner that balances statewide needs, if applicable; and

(C) is consistent with appropriate allocation of health care resources, including appropriate utilization of services, as identified in the Health Resource Allocation Plan developed pursuant to section 9405 of this title.

(2) The cost of the project is reasonable, because each of the following conditions is met:

(A) The applicant's financial condition will sustain any financial burden likely to result from completion of the project.

(B) The project will not result in an undue increase in the costs of medical care or an undue impact on the affordability of medical care for consumers. In making a finding under this subdivision, the Board shall consider and weigh relevant factors, including:

(i) the financial implications of the project on hospitals and other clinical settings, including the impact on their services, expenditures, and charges; and

(ii) whether the impact on services, expenditures, and charges is outweighed by the benefit of the project to the public.

(C) Less expensive alternatives do not exist, would be unsatisfactory, or are not feasible or appropriate.

(D) If applicable, the applicant has incorporated appropriate energy efficiency measures.

(3) There is an identifiable, existing, or reasonably anticipated need for the proposed project that is appropriate for the applicant to provide.

(4) The project will improve the quality of health care in the State or provide greater access to health care for Vermont's residents, or both.

(5) The project will not have an undue adverse impact on any other existing services provided by the applicant.

(6) [Repealed.]

(7) The applicant has adequately considered the availability of affordable, accessible transportation services to the facility, if applicable.

(8) If the application is for the purchase or lease of new Health Care Information Technology, it conforms with the Health Information Technology Plan established under section 9351 of this title.

(9) The project will support equal access to appropriate mental health care that meets standards of quality, access, and affordability equivalent to other components of health care as part of an integrated, holistic system of care, as appropriate.
18 V.S.A. § 9105 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 211 / Section 9105
§ 9105. Uniformity of interpretation
Status: in_force

This chapter shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it.
18 V.S.A. § 7257b — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 174 / Section 7257b
§ 7257b. Emergency Service Provider Wellness Commission
Status: in_force

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Chief executive of an emergency service provider organization” means a person in charge of an organization that employs or supervises emergency service providers in their official capacity.

(2) “Emergency service provider” means a person:

(A) currently or formerly recognized by a Vermont fire department as a firefighter;

(B) currently or formerly licensed by the Department of Health as an emergency medical technician, emergency medical responder, advanced emergency medical technician, or paramedic;

(C) currently or formerly certified as a law enforcement officer by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, including constables and sheriffs;

(D) currently or formerly employed by the Department of Corrections as a probation, parole, or correctional facility officer;

(E) currently or formerly certified by the Vermont Enhanced 911 Board as a 911 call taker or employed as an emergency communications dispatcher providing service for an emergency service provider organization; or

(F) currently or formerly registered as a ski patroller at a Vermont ski resort with the National Ski Patrol or Professional Ski Patrol Association.

(3) “Licensing entity” means a State entity that licenses or certifies an emergency service provider.

(b) There is created the Emergency Service Provider Wellness Commission within the Agency of Human Services that, in addition to the purposes listed in this subsection, shall consider the diversity of emergency service providers on the basis of gender, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and the unique needs that emergency service providers who have experienced trauma may have as a result of their identity status:

(1) to identify where increased or alternative supports or strategic investments within the emergency service provider community, designated or specialized service agencies, or other community service systems could improve the physical and mental health outcomes and overall wellness of emergency service providers;

(2) to identify how Vermont can increase capacity of qualified clinicians in the treatment of emergency service providers to ensure that the services of qualified clinicians are available throughout the State without undue delay;

(3) to create materials and information, in consultation with the Department of Health, including a list of qualified clinicians, for the purpose of populating an electronic emergency service provider wellness resource center on the Department of Health's website;

(4) to educate the public, emergency service providers, State and local governments, employee assistance programs, and policymakers about best practices, tools, personnel, resources, and strategies for the prevention and intervention of the effects of trauma experienced by emergency service providers;

(5) to identify gaps and strengths in Vermont's system of care for both emergency service providers who have experienced trauma and their immediate family members to ensure access to support and resources that address the impacts of primary and secondary trauma;

(6) to recommend how peer support services and qualified clinician services can be delivered regionally or statewide;

(7) to recommend how to support emergency service providers in communities that are resource challenged, remote, small, or rural;

(8) to recommend policies, practices, training, legislation, rules, and services that will increase successful interventions and support for emergency service providers to improve health outcomes, job performance, and personal well-being and reduce health risks, violations of employment, and violence associated with the impact of untreated trauma, including whether to amend Vermont's employment medical leave laws to assist volunteer emergency service providers in recovering from the effects of trauma experienced while on duty; and

(9) to consult with federal, State, and municipal agencies, organizations, entities, and individuals in order to make any other recommendations the Commission deems appropriate.

(c)(1) The Commission shall comprise the following members and, to the extent feasible, include representation among members that reflects the gender, gender identity, racial, age, ethnic, sexual orientation, social, and disability status of emergency service providers in the State:

(A) the Chief of Training of the Vermont Fire Academy or designee;

(B) a representative, appointed by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council;

(C) the Commissioner of Health or designee;

(D) the Commissioner of Public Safety or designee;

(E) the Commissioner of Corrections or designee;

(F) the Commissioner of Mental Health or designee;

(G) the Commissioner of Human Resources or designee;

(H) a law enforcement officer who is not a chief or sheriff, appointed by the President of the Vermont Police Association;

(I) a representative, appointed by the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police;

(J) a representative, appointed by the Vermont Sheriffs' Association;

(K) a volunteer firefighter, appointed by the Vermont State Firefighters' Association;

(L) a representative of the designated and specialized service agencies, appointed by Vermont Care Partners;

(M) a representative, appointed by the Vermont State Employees Association;

(N) a representative, appointed by the Vermont Troopers' Association;

(O) a professional firefighter, appointed by the Professional Firefighters of Vermont;

(P) a clinician associated with a peer support program who has experience in treating workplace trauma, appointed by the Department of Mental Health;

(Q) a professional emergency medical technician or paramedic, appointed by the Vermont State Ambulance Association;

(R) a volunteer emergency medical technician or paramedic, appointed by the Vermont State Ambulance Association;

(S) a person who serves or served on a peer support team, appointed by the Department of Mental Health;

(T) a representative, appointed by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns;

(U) a Chief, appointed by the Vermont Career Fire Chiefs Association;

(V) a Chief, appointed by the Vermont Fire Chiefs Association;

(W) a representative, appointed by the Vermont Association for Hospitals and Health Systems;

(X) the Executive Director of the Enhanced 911 Board or designee; and

(Y) a member of the National Ski Patrol appointed by consensus agreement of the National Ski Patrol Northern Vermont and Southern Vermont Regional Directors.

(2) The term of office of each member shall be three years. Of the members first appointed, 10 shall be appointed for a term of one year, 10 shall be appointed for a term of two years, and the remainder shall be appointed for a term of three years. Members shall hold office for the term of their appointments and until their successors have been appointed. All vacancies shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment. Members are eligible for reappointment.

(3) Commission members shall recuse themselves from any discussion of an event or circumstance that the member believes may involve an emergency service provider known by the member and shall not access any information related to it. The Commission may appoint an interim replacement member to fill the category represented by the recused member for review of that interaction.

(d)(1) The Commissioner of Health or designee shall call the first meeting of the Commission to occur on or before September 30, 2021.

(2) The Commission shall select a chair and vice chair from among its members at the first meeting and annually thereafter.

(3) The Commission shall meet at such times as may reasonably be necessary to carry out its duties but at least once in each calendar quarter.

(4) The Department of Health shall provide technical, legal, and administrative assistance to the Commission.

(e) The Commission's meetings shall be open to the public in accordance with 1 V.S.A. chapter 5, subchapter 2. Notwithstanding 1 V.S.A. § 313, the Commission may go into executive session in the event a circumstance or an event involving a specific emergency service provider is described, regardless of whether the emergency service provider is identified by name.

(f) Commission records describing a circumstance or an event involving a specific emergency service provider, regardless of whether the emergency service provider is identified by name, are exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and shall be kept confidential.

(g) To the extent permitted under federal law, the Commission may enter into agreements with agencies, organizations, and individuals to obtain otherwise confidential information.

(h) Notwithstanding 2 V.S.A. § 20(d), the Commission shall report its conclusions and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly as the Commission deems necessary but not less frequently than once per calendar year. The report shall disclose individually identifiable health information only to the extent necessary to convey the Commission's conclusions and recommendations, and any such disclosures shall be limited to information already known to the public. The report shall be available to the public through the Department of Health.
18 V.S.A. § 1121 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 21 / Section 1121
§ 1121. Immunizations required prior to attending school and child care facilities
Status: in_force

(a) No person may enroll as a student in a Vermont school, regardless of whether the student has been enrolled in the school during a previous school year, unless the appropriate school official has received a record or certificate of immunization issued by a licensed health care practitioner or a health clinic that the person has received required immunizations appropriate to age as specified by the Vermont Department of Health.

(b) No person may enroll or retain a child in a child care facility, regardless of whether the child has been enrolled in the facility during a previous year, unless the facility has received a record or certificate of immunization issued by a licensed health care practitioner or a health clinic that the child has received required immunizations in the prior 12-month period appropriate to age as specified by the Vermont Department of Health.

(c)(1) To the extent permitted under 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (family educational and privacy rights), and any regulations adopted pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, all schools and child care facilities shall make publicly available the aggregated immunization rates of the student body for each required immunization using a standardized form that shall be created by the Department. Each school and child care facility shall provide the information on the school and child care facility's aggregated immunization rate for each required immunization to students, or in the case of a minor to parents and guardians, at the start of each academic year and to any student, or in the case of a minor to the parent or guardian of any student, who transfers to the school or child care facility after the start of the academic year. A student attending a postsecondary school shall directly receive information on the school's aggregated immunization rate at the start of the academic year or upon transfer to the school, regardless of whether the student is a minor.

(2) Each school and child care facility shall annually, on or before January 1, submit its standardized form containing the student body's aggregated immunization rates to the Department.

(3) Notwithstanding section 1120 of this title, as used in this subsection only, the term “child care facility” shall exclude a family day care home licensed or registered under 33 V.S.A. chapter 35.
18 V.S.A. § 5313 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5313
§ 5313. Records; burial records open to public
Status: in_force

An agency engaged in the business of a cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium shall provide and maintain a suitable place of deposit for the records and files of such cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium, of such character as will safely keep and preserve such records and files from loss and destruction, and it shall make and file proper records in such place. The record of the permanent disposition of human remains shall at all reasonable times be open to the public.
18 V.S.A. § 129 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 3 / Section 129
§ 129. Stay
Status: in_force

An appeal filed pursuant to section 128 of this title shall not stay the effectiveness of the order appealed from unless the Court otherwise orders.
18 V.S.A. § 4070 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 82 / Section 4070
§ 4070. Inspection; examination of samples
Status: in_force

(a) The Department or its duly authorized agent shall have free access at all reasonable hours to any factory, warehouse, or establishment in which food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics are manufactured, processed, packed, or held for introduction into commerce, or to enter any vehicle being used to transport or hold such food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics in commerce, for the purpose:

(1) of inspecting the factory, warehouse, establishment, or vehicle to determine if any of the provisions of this chapter are being violated; and

(2) to secure samples or specimens of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic after paying or offering to pay for the sample.

(b) It shall be the duty of the Department to make or cause to be made examinations of samples secured under the provisions of this section to determine whether any provision of this chapter is being violated.
18 V.S.A. § 7701 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 183 / Section 7701
§ 7701. Notice of rights
Status: in_force

A hospital, secure residential recovery facility, and psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth shall provide reasonable means and arrangements, including the posting of excerpts from relevant statutes, for informing patients of their right to discharge and other rights and for assisting them in making and presenting requests for discharge or for application to have the patient's status changed from involuntary to voluntary.
18 V.S.A. § 1852 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 42 / Section 1852
§ 1852. Patients' bill of rights; adoption
Status: in_force

(a) The General Assembly hereby adopts the “Bill of Rights for Hospital Patients” as follows:

(1) The patient has the right to considerate and respectful care at all times and under all circumstances with recognition of his or her personal dignity.

(2) The patient shall have an attending physician who is responsible for coordinating a patient's care.

(3) The patient has the right to obtain, from the physician coordinating his or her care, complete and current information concerning diagnosis, treatment, and any known prognosis in terms the patient can reasonably be expected to understand. If the patient consents or if the patient is incompetent or unable to understand, immediate family members or a guardian may also obtain this information. The patient has the right to know by name the attending physician primarily responsible for coordinating his or her care.

(4) Except in emergencies, the patient has the right to receive from the patient's physician information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any procedure or treatment, or both. Such information for informed consent should include the specific procedure or treatment, or both; the medically significant risks involved; and the probable duration of incapacitation. Where medically significant alternatives for care or treatment exist, or when the patient requests information concerning medical alternatives, the patient has the right to such information. The patient also has the right to know the name of the person responsible for the procedures or treatment, or both.

(5) The patient has the right to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law. In the event the patient refuses treatment, the patient shall be informed of the medical consequences of that action, and the hospital shall be relieved of any further responsibility for that refusal.

(6) The patient has the right to every consideration of privacy concerning the patient's own medical care program. Case discussion, consultation, examination, and treatment are confidential and shall be conducted discreetly. Those not directly involved in the patient's care must have the permission of the patient to be present. This right includes the right, upon request, to have a person of one's own sex present during certain parts of a physical examination, treatment, or procedure performed by a health care professional of the opposite sex and the right not to remain disrobed any longer than is required for accomplishing the medical purpose for which the patient was asked to disrobe. The patient has the right to wear appropriate personal clothing and religious or other symbolic items so long as they do not interfere with diagnostic procedures or treatment.

(7) The patient has the right to expect that all communications and records pertaining to his or her care shall be treated as confidential. Only medical personnel, or individuals under the supervision of medical personnel, directly treating the patient, or those persons monitoring the quality of that treatment, or researching the effectiveness of that treatment, shall have access to the patient's medical records. Others may have access to those records only with the patient's written authorization.

(8) The patient has the right to expect that within its capacity a hospital shall respond reasonably to the request of a patient for services. The right shall include if physically possible a transfer to another room or place if another person in that room or place is disturbing the patient by smoking or other unreasonable actions. When medically permissible, a patient may be transferred to another facility only after receiving complete information and explanation concerning the needs for and alternatives to such a transfer. The institution to which the patient is to be transferred must first have accepted the patient for transfer.

(9) The patient has the right to know the identity and professional status of individuals providing service to him or her and to know which physician or other practitioner is primarily responsible for his or her care. This includes the patient's right to know of the existence of any professional relationship among individuals who are treating him or her, as well as the relationship to any other health care or educational institutions involved in his or her care.

(10) The patient has the right to be advised if the hospital proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation affecting the patient's care or treatment. Participation by patients in clinical training programs or in the gathering of data for research purposes shall be voluntary. The patient has the right to refuse to participate in such research projects.

(11) The patient has the right to expect reasonable continuity of care. The patient has the right to be informed by the attending physician of any continuing health care requirements following discharge.

(12) The patient has the right to receive an itemized, detailed, and understandable explanation of charges regardless of the source of payment and to be provided with information about financial assistance and billing and collections practices.

(13) The patient has the right to know what hospital rules and regulations apply to his or her conduct as a patient.

(14) Whenever possible, guardians or parents have the right to stay with their children 24 hours per day. Whenever possible, agents, guardians, or immediate family members have the right to stay with terminally ill patients 24 hours per day.

(15) A patient who does not speak or understand the predominant language of the community has a right to an interpreter if the language barrier presents a continuing problem to patient understanding of the care and treatment being provided. A patient who is hard of hearing has a right to an interpreter if the impairment presents a continuing problem to patient understanding of the care and treatments being provided.

(16) The patient has the right to receive professional assessment of pain and professional pain management.

(17) The patient has the right to be informed in writing of the availability of hospice services and the eligibility criteria for those services.

(18) The patient has the right to know the maximum patient census and the full-time equivalent numbers of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and licensed nursing assistants who provide direct care for each shift on the unit where the patient is receiving care.

(b) Failure to comply with any provision of this section may constitute a basis for disciplinary action against a physician under 26 V.S.A. chapter 23. A complaint may be filed with the Board of Medical Practice.

(c) A summary of the hospital's obligations under this section, written in clear language and in easily readable print, shall be distributed to patients upon admission and posted conspicuously at each nurse's station. Such notice shall also indicate that as an alternative or in addition to the hospital's complaint procedures, the patient may directly contact the licensing agency or the Board of Medical Practice. The address and telephone number of the licensing agency and Board of Medical Practice shall be included in the notice.
18 V.S.A. § 7101 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 171 / Section 7101
§ 7101. Definitions
Status: repealed

As used in this part of this title, the following words, unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the following meanings:

(1) “Board” means the Board of Mental Health.

(2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Mental Health.

(3) “Custody” means safekeeping, protection, charge, or care.

(4) “Designated hospital” means a hospital or other facility designated by the Commissioner as adequate to provide appropriate care for the mentally ill patient.

(5) “Elopement” means the leaving of a designated hospital or designated program or training school without lawful authority.

(6) “Head of a hospital” means the administrator or persons in charge at any time.

(7) “Hospital” means a public or private hospital or facility or part thereof, equipped and otherwise qualified to provide inpatient care and treatment for persons with mental conditions or psychiatric disabilities.

(8) “Individual” means a resident of or a person in Vermont.

(9) “Interested party” means a guardian, spouse, parent, adult child, close adult relative, responsible adult friend, or person who has the individual in his or her charge or care. It also means a mental health professional, a law enforcement officer, a licensed physician, or a head of a hospital.

(10) “Law enforcement officer” means a sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, municipal police officer, or State Police.

(11) “Licensed physician” means a physician legally qualified and licensed to practice as a physician in Vermont.

(12) [Repealed.]

(13) “Mental health professional” means a person with professional training, experience, and demonstrated competence in the treatment of mental illness, who shall be a physician, psychologist, social worker, mental health counselor, nurse, or other qualified person designated by the Commissioner.

(14) “Mental illness” means a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory, any of which grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life, but shall not include intellectual disability.

(15) “Patient” means a resident of or person in Vermont qualified under this title for hospitalization or treatment as a person with a mental illness or intellectual disability.

(16) “A patient in need of further treatment” means:

(A) a person in need of treatment; or

(B) a patient who is receiving adequate treatment, and who, if such treatment is discontinued, presents a substantial probability that in the near future his or her condition will deteriorate and he or she will become a person in need of treatment.

(17) “A person in need of treatment” means a person who has a mental illness and, as a result of that mental illness, his or her capacity to exercise self-control, judgment, or discretion in the conduct of his or her affairs and social relations is so lessened that he or she poses a danger of harm to himself, to herself, or to others:

(A) A danger of harm to others may be shown by establishing that:

(i) he or she has inflicted or attempted to inflict bodily harm on another; or

(ii) by his or her threats or actions he or she has placed others in reasonable fear of physical harm to themselves; or

(iii) by his or her actions or inactions he or she has presented a danger to persons in his or her care.

(B) A danger of harm to himself or herself may be shown by establishing that:

(i) he or she has threatened or attempted suicide or serious bodily harm; or

(ii) he or she has behaved in such a manner as to indicate that he or she is unable, without supervision and the assistance of others, to satisfy his or her need for nourishment, personal or medical care, shelter, or self-protection and safety, so that it is probable that death, substantial physical bodily injury, serious mental deterioration, or serious physical debilitation or disease will ensue unless adequate treatment is afforded.

(18) “Resident of Vermont” means:

(A) A person who has lived continuously in Vermont for one year immediately preceding his or her admission as a patient or immediately preceding his or her becoming a proposed patient.

(B) A person who has a present intention to make Vermont his or her home for an indefinite period of time. This intention may be evidenced by prior statements or it may be implied from facts which show that the person does in fact make Vermont his or her permanent home. A married woman shall be capable of establishing a legal residence apart from her husband, and a child under 18 years shall take legal residence of the parent or guardian with whom he or she is actually living.

(19) “Retreat” means the Brattleboro Retreat.

(20) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Human Services.

(21), (22) [Repealed.]

(23) “Vermont” means the State of Vermont.

(24) “Voluntary patient” means an individual admitted to a hospital voluntarily or an individual whose status has been changed from involuntary to voluntary.

(25) “Children and adolescents with a severe emotional disturbance” means those persons defined as such under 33 V.S.A. § 4301(3).

(26) “No refusal system” means a system of hospitals and intensive residential recovery facilities under contract with the Department of Mental Health that provides high intensity services, in which the facilities shall admit any individual for care if the individual meets the eligibility criteria established by the Commissioner in contract.

(27) “Participating hospital” means a hospital under contract with the Department of Mental Health to participate in the no refusal system.

(28) “Successor in interest” means the mental health hospital owned and operated by the State that provides acute inpatient care and replaces the Vermont State Hospital.

(29) “Peer” means an individual who has a personal experience of living with a mental health condition or psychiatric disability.

(30) “Peer services” means support services provided by trained peers or peer-managed organizations focused on helping individuals with mental health and other co-occurring conditions to support recovery.

(31) “Department” means the Department of Mental Health.

(32) “Psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth” means a nonhospital inpatient facility that serves individuals between 12 and 21 years of age with complex mental health conditions under the direction of a physician.

(33) “Secure residential recovery facility” means a residential facility, licensed as a therapeutic community residence as defined in 33 V.S.A. § 7102(11), for an individual in need of treatment within a secure setting for an extended period of time. “Secure,” when describing a secure residential recovery facility, means that the residents can be physically prevented from leaving the facility by means of locking devices or other mechanical or physical mechanisms.
18 V.S.A. § 4057 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 82 / Section 4057
§ 4057. Construction
Status: in_force

Nothing in this chapter shall require the Commissioner to report for the institution of proceedings under this chapter minor violations of this chapter whenever the Commissioner believes that the public interest will be adequately served in the circumstances by a suitable written notice of warning. (1959, No. 172, § 8, eff. May 12, 1959; amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. March 1, 1961; 2023, No. 53, § 88, eff. June 8, 2023.)
18 V.S.A. § 5205 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 107 / Section 5205
§ 5205. Death certificate when no attending physician and in other circumstances; autopsy
Status: in_force

(a) When a person dies from violence, or suddenly when in apparent good health or when unattended by a physician or a recognized practitioner of a well-established church, or by casualty, or by suicide or as a result of injury or when in jail or prison, or any psychiatric hospital, or in any unusual, unnatural, or suspicious manner, or in circumstances involving a hazard to public health, welfare, or safety, the head of the household, the jailer, or the superintendent of a psychiatric hospital where such death occurred, or the next of kin, or the person discovering the body or any doctor notified of the death, shall immediately notify the medical examiner who resides nearest the town where the death occurred and immediately upon being notified, such medical examiner shall notify the State's Attorney of the county in which the death occurred. The State's Attorney shall thereafter be in charge of the body and shall issue such instructions covering the care or removal of the body as he or she shall deem appropriate until he or she releases same.

(b) The medical examiner and a designated law enforcement officer shall thereupon together immediately make a proper preliminary investigation.

(c) Unless the cause and manner of death is uncertain, such medical examiner shall complete and sign a certificate of death. The medical examiner and the designated law enforcement officer shall each submit a report of investigation to the State's Attorney and the Chief Medical Examiner. If, however, the cause or circumstances of death are uncertain, he or she shall immediately so advise the State's Attorney of the county where the death occurred and notify the Chief Medical Examiner.

(d) The State's Attorney of each county, with the advice of the Commissioner of Public Safety or his or her designee, the sheriff, and the Chief of Police of any established Police Department, shall prepare a list of law enforcement officers in his or her county qualified to make an investigation and report. This list shall be made available to the medical officers concerned and such other persons as the State's Attorney deems proper.

(e) If an undertaker or embalmer shall, in the course of his or her employment, find evidence of physical violence on the body or evidence of an unlawful act sufficient to indicate to such a person that death might have been the result of an unlawful act, he or she shall immediately notify the State's Attorney of the county where the body is then located and shall proceed no further with the preparation and embalming process of such body until permitted to do so by the State's Attorney.

(f) The State's Attorney or Chief Medical Examiner, if either deem it necessary and in the interest of public health, welfare, and safety, or in furtherance of the administration of the law, may order an autopsy to be performed by the Chief Medical Examiner or under the Chief Medical Examiner's direction. Upon completion of the autopsy, the Chief Medical Examiner shall submit a report to such State's Attorney and the Attorney General and shall submit a report of death to the State Registrar. Upon the written request of a federal prosecutor or a prosecutor in another state, the Chief Medical Examiner shall submit a report of a death to the requesting office.

(g) When a person who is committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections or who is under the supervision of the Department of Corrections dies, the Commissioner of Corrections may request to be provided with a copy of any and all reports generated pursuant to subsection (f) of this section. No such request shall be granted where the medical examiner is unable to determine a manner of death or the manner of death is classified as a homicide. In other circumstances, the request shall be granted in the discretion of the Medical Examiner for good cause shown. Reports disclosed pursuant to this subsection shall remain confidential as required by law and shall not be considered to be a public record pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 317.
18 V.S.A. § 1775 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 38A / Section 1775
§ 1775. Disclosure of information on chemicals of high concern
Status: in_force

(a) Notice of chemical of high concern to children. A manufacturer of a children's product or a trade association representing a manufacturer of children's products shall submit to the Department the notice described in subsection (b) of this section for each chemical of high concern to children in a children's product if a chemical of high concern to children is:

(1) intentionally added to a children's product at a level above the PQL produced by the manufacturer; or

(2) present in a children's product produced by the manufacturer as a contaminant at a concentration of 100 parts per million or greater.

(b) Format for notice. The Commissioner shall specify the format for submission of the notice required by subsection (a) of this section, provided that the required format shall be generally consistent with the format for submission of notice in other states with requirements substantially similar to the requirements of this section. Any notice submitted under subsection (a) shall contain the following information:

(1) the name of the chemical used or produced and its chemical abstracts service registry number;

(2) a description of the product or product component containing the chemical, including the brand name, the product model, and the universal product code if the product has such a code;

(3) the amount of the chemical contained in each unit of the product or product component, reported by weight or parts per million as authorized by the Commissioner;

(4) the name and address of the manufacturer of the children's product and the name, address, and telephone number of a contact person for the manufacturer;

(5) any other information the manufacturer deems relevant to the appropriate use of the product; and

(6) any other information required by the Commissioner under rules adopted pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25.

(c) Reciprocal data-sharing. In order for the Department to obtain the information required in the notice described in subsection (b) of this section, the Department may enter into reciprocal data-sharing agreements with other states in which a manufacturer of children's products is also required to disclose information related to chemicals of high concern to children in children's products. The Department shall not disclose trade secret information, confidential business information, or other information designated as confidential by law under a reciprocal data-sharing agreement.

(d) Waiver of format. Upon application of a manufacturer on a form provided by the Department, the Commissioner may waive the requirement under subsection (b) of this section that a manufacturer provide notice in a format specified by the Commissioner. The waiver may be granted, provided that:

(1) the manufacturer submitted the information required in a notice under this section to:

(A) a state with which the Department has entered a reciprocal data-sharing agreement; or

(B) a trade association, the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse, a federal governmental agency, or other independent third party;

(2) the information required to be reported in a notice under this section is provided to the Department in an alternate format, including reference to information publicly available in other states or by independent third parties; and

(3) the information required to be reported in a notice under this section is available on or accessible from the Department of Health website.

(e) Chemical control program. A manufacturer shall be exempt from the requirements of notice under this section for any chemical of high concern to children that is present in a children's product or component of a children's product only as a contaminant if, during manufacture of the children's product, the manufacturer was implementing a manufacturing control program and exercised due diligence to minimize the presence of the contaminant in the children's product.

(f) Notice of removal of chemical. A manufacturer who submitted the notice required by subsection (a) of this section may at any time submit to the Department notice that a chemical of high concern to children has been removed from the manufacturer's children's product or that the manufacturer no longer sells, offers for sale, or distributes in the State the children's product containing the chemical of high concern to children. Upon verification of a manufacturer's notice under this subsection, the Commissioner shall promptly remove from the Department website any reference to the relevant children's product of the manufacturer.

(g) Certificate of compliance. A manufacturer required to submit notice under this section to the Commissioner may rely on a certificate of compliance from suppliers for determining reporting obligations. A certificate of compliance provided by a supplier under this subsection shall be solely for the purpose of compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

(h) Products for sale out of State. A manufacturer shall not be required to submit notice under this section for a children's product manufactured, stored in, or transported through Vermont solely for use or sale outside the State of Vermont.

(i) Publication of information; disclaimer. The Commissioner shall post on the Department of Health website information submitted under this section by a manufacturer. When the Commissioner posts on the Department of Health website information submitted under this section by a manufacturer, the Commissioner shall provide the following notice:

“The reports on this website are based on data provided to the Department. The presence of a chemical in a children's product does not necessarily mean that the product is harmful to human health or that there is any violation of existing safety standards or laws. The reporting triggers are not health-based values.”

(j) Fee. A manufacturer shall pay a fee of $200.00 for each notice required under subsection (a) of this section. If, under subsection (d) of this section, the Commissioner waives the required format for reporting, the fee shall not be waived. Fees collected under this subsection shall be deposited in the Chemicals of High Concern Fund for the purposes of that Fund.

(k) Application of section. The requirements of this section shall apply unless a manufacturer is exempt or unless notice according to the requirements of this section is specifically preempted by federal law. In the event of conflict between the requirements of this section and federal law, federal law shall control.

(l) Submission of notice; dates. Unless the Commissioner adopts by rule a phased-in reporting requirement under section 1776 of this title, a manufacturer shall submit the notice required under subsection (a) of this section on or before August 31, 2020 and annually thereafter.
18 V.S.A. § 5212 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 107 / Section 5212
§ 5212. Permit to remove dead bodies
Status: in_force

(a) A person desirous of disinterring or removing the body of a human being from one cemetery to another cemetery or to another part of the same cemetery or from a tomb or receiving vault elsewhere shall apply to the clerk of the municipality in which the dead body is interred or entombed for a removal permit.

(b) An applicant for a removal permit shall publish notice of his or her intent to remove the remains. This notice shall be published for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality in which the body is interred or entombed. The notice shall include a statement that the spouse, child, parent, sibling, or descendant of the deceased, or that the cemetery commissioner or other municipal authority responsible for cemeteries in the municipality may object to the proposed removal by filing a complaint in the Probate Division of the Superior Court of the district in which the body is located as provided in section 5212a of this title.

(c) The municipal clerk shall issue a removal permit 45 days after the date on which notice was last published pursuant to subsection (b) of this section or, if an objection is made pursuant to section 5212a, of this title upon order of the court.

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a removal permit shall be issued upon application:

(1) when removal is necessary because of temporary entombment; or

(2) to a federal, state, county, or municipal official acting pursuant to official duties; or

(3) if the applicant has written permission to remove the remains from all persons entitled to object under section 5212a of this title.

(e) This section does not apply to:

(1) unmarked burial sites that are subject to the provisions of subchapter 1 of this chapter; and

(2) the removal of “historic remains,” which has the same meaning as in subdivision 5217(a)(1) of this subchapter.
18 V.S.A. § 5384 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5384
§ 5384. Payment to treasurer; record; investment
Status: in_force

(a) Unless otherwise directed by the donor, all monies received by a town for cemetery purposes shall be paid to the town treasurer, who shall give a receipt for monies received, which shall be recorded in the office of the town clerk in a book kept for that purpose. The book shall also state the amount received from each donor, the time when, and the specific purpose for which it is appropriated.

(b)(1) All monies so received by the town may be invested and reinvested by the treasurer, with the approval of the selectboard, by deposit in:

(A) certificates of deposit and other evidences of deposit at Vermont, national, or federal chartered banks, and savings and loan associations that are guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or its successor;

(B) obligations of the United States, its agencies, and instrumentalities, which have a liquid market with readily determinable market value;

(C) investment-grade obligations of state or local governments, instrumentalities, and public authorities; and

(D) the shares of an investment company or an investment trust, such as a mutual fund, closed-end fund, or unit investment trust, that is registered under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, if such fund has been in operation for at least five years and has net assets of at least $100,000,000.00.

(2)(A) However, in a town that elects trustees of public funds, cemetery funds shall be invested by the trustees in any of the securities enumerated in this section, and the income thereof paid to the proper officers as the same falls due.

(B) Investment income shall be expended for the purpose and in the manner designated by the donor. The provisions of this section as to future investments shall not require the liquidation or disposition of securities legally acquired and held.

(3) The treasurer, selectboard, or trustees of public funds may delegate management and investment of town cemetery funds to the extent that it is prudent under the terms of the trust or endowment, and in accordance with section 3415 (delegation of management and investment functions) of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, 14 V.S.A. chapter 120. Notwithstanding the limitations on investments set forth in this subsection, an agent exercising a delegated management or investment function, if investing, shall invest cemetery funds in a publicly traded security that is:

(A) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78l and listed on a national securities exchange;

(B) issued by an investment company registered pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 80a-8;

(C) a corporate bond registered as an offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78l and issued by an entity whose stock is a publicly traded security;

(D) a municipal security;

(E) a deposit in federally insured financial institutions as defined in 8 V.S.A. § 11101(32); or

(F) a security issued, insured, or guaranteed by the United States.

(4) If the municipality has adopted an investment policy, the treasurer, selectboard, or trustees of public funds shall invest in accordance with the provisions of the municipal policy that do not conflict with this section.
18 V.S.A. § 5283 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 113 / Section 5283
§ 5283. Requirements for prescription and documentation; immunity
Status: in_force

(a) A physician shall not be subject to any civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action if the physician prescribes to a patient with a terminal condition medication to be self-administered for the purpose of hastening the patient's death and the physician affirms by documenting in the patient's medical record that all of the following occurred:

(1) The patient made an oral request to the physician in the physician's physical presence or by telemedicine, if the physician determines the use of telemedicine to be clinically appropriate, for medication to be self- administered for the purpose of hastening the patient's death.

(2) Not fewer than 15 days after the first oral request, the patient made a second oral request to the physician in the physician's physical presence or by telemedicine, if the physician determines the use of telemedicine to be clinically appropriate, for medication to be self-administered for the purpose of hastening the patient's death.

(3) At the time of the second oral request, the physician offered the patient an opportunity to rescind the request.

(4) The patient made a written request for medication to be self-administered for the purpose of hastening the patient's death that was signed by the patient in the presence of two or more witnesses who were not interested persons, who were at least 18 years of age, and who signed and affirmed that the patient appeared to understand the nature of the document and to be free from duress or undue influence at the time the request was signed.

(5) The physician determined that the patient:

(A) was suffering a terminal condition, based on the physician's review of the patient's relevant medical records and a physician's physical examination of the patient;

(B) was capable;

(C) was making an informed decision; and

(D) had made a voluntary request for medication to hasten the patient's own death.

(6) The physician informed the patient in person or by telemedicine, both verbally and in writing, of all the following:

(A) the patient's medical diagnosis;

(B) the patient's prognosis, including an acknowledgement that the physician's prediction of the patient's life expectancy was an estimate based on the physician's best medical judgment and was not a guarantee of the actual time remaining in the patient's life, and that the patient could live longer than the time predicted;

(C) the range of treatment options appropriate for the patient and the patient's diagnosis;

(D) if the patient was not enrolled in hospice care, all feasible end-of-life services, including palliative care, comfort care, hospice care, and pain control;

(E) the range of possible results, including potential risks associated with taking the medication to be prescribed; and

(F) the probable result of taking the medication to be prescribed.

(7) The physician referred the patient to a second physician for medical confirmation of the diagnosis, prognosis, and a determination that the patient was capable, was acting voluntarily, and had made an informed decision.

(8) The physician either verified that the patient did not have impaired judgment or referred the patient for an evaluation by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker licensed in Vermont for confirmation that the patient was capable and did not have impaired judgment.

(9) If applicable, the physician consulted with the patient's primary care physician with the patient's consent.

(10) The physician informed the patient that the patient may rescind the request at any time and in any manner and offered the patient an opportunity to rescind after the patient's second oral request.

(11) The physician ensured that all required steps were carried out in accordance with this section and confirmed, immediately prior to writing the prescription for medication, that the patient was making an informed decision.

(12) The physician wrote the prescription after the last to occur of the following events:

(A) the patient's written request for medication to hasten the patient's own death;

(B) the patient's second oral request; and

(C) the physician's offering the patient an opportunity to rescind the request.

(13) The physician either:

(A) dispensed the medication directly, provided that at the time the physician dispensed the medication, the physician was licensed to dispense medication in Vermont, had a current Drug Enforcement Administration certificate, and complied with any applicable administrative rules; or

(B) with the patient's written consent:

(i) contacted a pharmacist and informed the pharmacist of the prescription; and

(ii) delivered the written prescription personally or by mail or facsimile to the pharmacist, who dispensed the medication to the patient, the physician, or an expressly identified agent of the patient.

(14) The physician recorded and filed the following in the patient's medical record:

(A) the date, time, and wording of all oral requests of the patient for medication to hasten the patient's own death;

(B) all written requests by the patient for medication to hasten the patient's own death;

(C) the physician's diagnosis, prognosis, and basis for the determination that the patient was capable, was acting voluntarily, and had made an informed decision;

(D) the second physician's diagnosis, prognosis, and verification that the patient was capable, was acting voluntarily, and had made an informed decision;

(E) the physician's attestation that the patient was enrolled in hospice care at the time of the patient's oral and written requests for medication to hasten the patient's own death or that the physician informed the patient of all feasible end-of-life services;

(F) the physician's verification that the patient either did not have impaired judgment or that the physician referred the patient for an evaluation and the person conducting the evaluation has determined that the patient did not have impaired judgment;

(G) a report of the outcome and determinations made during any evaluation which the patient may have received;

(H) the date, time, and wording of the physician's offer to the patient to rescind the request for medication at the time of the patient's second oral request; and

(I) a note by the physician indicating that all requirements under this section were satisfied and describing all of the steps taken to carry out the request, including a notation of the medication prescribed.

(15) After writing the prescription, the physician promptly filed a report with the Department of Health documenting completion of all of the requirements under this section.

(b) This section shall not be construed to limit civil or criminal liability for gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.
18 V.S.A. § 2251 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 51 / Section 2251
§ 2251. Lien established
Status: in_force

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a hospital in Vermont, as defined in section 1801 of this title, furnishing medical or other service, including charges of private duty nurses, to a patient injured by reason of an accident not covered by the Workers' Compensation Act, 21 V.S.A. chapter 9, may file a lien upon any recovery for damages to be received by the patient, or by the patient's heirs or personal representatives in the case of the patient's death, whether by judgment or by settlement or compromise after the date of the services.

(b)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a hospital shall not have a lien under this chapter if the patient has health insurance, including coverage under Medicare, Medicaid, or a health plan issued by a health insurer, as defined in section 9402 of this title, and the patient, or the patient's heirs or personal representatives in the case of the patient's death, provides the hospital with proof of health insurance not later than 90 days after the patient's discharge from or death at the hospital.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, a hospital may file a lien pursuant to subsection (a) of this section for any amount owed to the hospital for the patient's deductible or coinsurance, or both, under the health insurance plan for the medical or other services furnished by the hospital by filing notice of a lien at least 120 days after the hospital billed the patient's health insurance plan for the amount owed to the hospital for services furnished to the patient.

(3) The patient's health insurance plan shall not deny payment for services furnished by the hospital to the patient on the basis that some or all of the patient's medical costs may be covered by a property and casualty insurance plan, unless such denial is required or expressly permitted by State or federal law.

(c)(1) A hospital that recovers under this chapter shall be responsible for a pro rata share of the legal and administrative expenses incurred in obtaining the judgment, settlement, or compromise.

(2) In no event shall the hospital lien exceed one-third of the net judgment, settlement, or compromise received by the injured patient.
18 V.S.A. § 9501 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 225 / Section 9501
§ 9501. Definitions
Status: repealed

As used in this chapter:

(1) [Repealed.]

(2) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Human Services.

(3) “Agency” means the Agency of Human Services, unless the context requires otherwise.

(4) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Health.

(5) “Department” means the Department of Health, unless the context requires otherwise.

(6) “Eligible activity” means any activity that will carry out either or both of the dual purposes of freeing Vermonters from addiction to tobacco and ensuring that the youth of Vermont in this generation and in generations to come are free from tobacco addiction. Eligible activities include the following:

(A) establishing anti-addiction programs that are accessible to all Vermonters;

(B) creating and fostering anti-tobacco educational programs for use in Vermont schools;

(C) creating and fostering anti-tobacco advertising;

(D) establishing community outreach programs;

(E) supporting tobacco control enforcement activities; and

(F) evaluating the effectiveness of tobacco cessation, prevention, and control programs.

(7) “Litigation Settlement Fund” means the Vermont Tobacco Litigation Settlement Fund established by 32 V.S.A. § 435a.

(8) “Program” means the Vermont tobacco prevention and treatment program established under this chapter.

(9) “Tobacco litigation settlement” means the Master Settlement Agreement between members of the tobacco industry and the State of Vermont, approved by the Vermont Superior Court on December 14, 1998 and finalized in Vermont on January 13, 1999.

(10) “Trust Fund” means the Tobacco Trust Fund established by this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 4802 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 94 / Section 4802
§ 4802. Definitions
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Alcoholic” means a person with the condition of alcoholism.

(2) “Alcoholism” means addiction to the drug alcohol. It is characterized by:

(A) chronic absence of control by the drug user over the frequency or the volume of his or her alcohol intake; and

(B) inability of the drug user to moderate consistently his or her drinking practices in spite of the onset of a variety of consequences deleterious to his or her health.

(3) “Approved substance abuse treatment program” means a treatment program which is approved by the Secretary as qualified to provide treatment for substance abuse.

(4) “Client” means a person who is provided treatment services by an approved substance abuse treatment program, substance abuse crisis team, or designated substance abuse counselor.

(5) “Designated substance abuse counselor” means a person approved by the Secretary to evaluate and treat substance abusers, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(6) “Detoxification” means the planned withdrawal of an individual from a state of acute or chronic intoxication under qualified supervision and with or without the use of medication. Detoxification is monitoring and management of the physical and psychological effects of withdrawal, for the purpose of assuring safe and rapid return of the individual to normal bodily and mental functioning.

(7) “Incapacitated” means that a person, as a result of his or her use of alcohol or other drugs, is in a state of intoxication or of mental confusion resulting from withdrawal such that the person:

(A) appears to need medical care or supervision by approved substance abuse treatment personnel, as defined in this section, to ensure the person's safety; or

(B) appears to present a direct active or passive threat to the safety of others.

(8) “Intoxicated” means a condition in which the mental or physical functioning of an individual is substantially impaired as a result of the presence of alcohol or other drugs in his or her system.

(9) “Law enforcement officer” means a law enforcement officer certified by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council as provided in 20 V.S.A. §§ 2355-2358 or appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety as provided in 20 V.S.A. § 1911.

(10) “Licensed hospital” means a hospital licensed under chapter 43 of this title.

(11) “Protective custody” means a civil status in which an incapacitated person is detained by a law enforcement officer for the purposes of:

(A) ensuring the safety of the individual or the public, or both; and

(B) assisting the individual to return to a functional condition.

(12) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Human Services or designee.

(13) “Substance abuse crisis team” means an organization approved by the Secretary to provide emergency treatment and transportation services to substance abusers pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(14) “Substance abuser” means anyone who drinks alcohol or consumes other drugs to an extent or with a frequency that impairs or endangers his or her health or the health and welfare of others.

(15) “Treatment” means the broad range of medical, detoxification, residential, outpatient, aftercare, and follow-up services which are needed by substance abusers and may include a variety of other medical, social, vocational, and educational services relevant to the rehabilitation of these persons.
18 V.S.A. § 9704 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 231 / Section 9704
§ 9704. Amendment, suspension, and revocation
Status: in_force

(a)(1) A principal with capacity may amend, suspend, or revoke an advance directive or any specific instruction in an advance directive by executing a new advance directive or instruction pursuant to section 9703 of this title.

(2) A provision in a subsequently executed advance directive amends an earlier provision in an advance directive to the extent of any conflict between them.

(b)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, a principal with or without capacity may suspend or revoke all or part of an advance directive, including the designation of an agent:

(A) by signing a statement suspending or revoking all or part of an advance directive;

(B) by personally informing the principal's clinician, who shall make a written record of the suspension or revocation in the principal's medical record; or

(C) by burning, tearing, or obliterating the advance directive, either by the principal personally or by another person at the principal's express direction and in the presence of the principal.

(2) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, a principal with or without capacity may suspend or revoke any provision other than the designation of an agent, orally, in writing, or by any other act evidencing a specific intent to suspend or revoke.

(3) A provision in an advance directive executed pursuant to subsection 9707(h) of this title may be suspended or revoked only if the principal has capacity.

(4) To the extent possible, the principal shall communicate any suspension or revocation to the agent or other interested individual.

(c)(1) A clinician, health care provider, health care facility, or residential care facility who becomes aware of an amendment, suspension, or revocation while treating an incapacitated principal shall make reasonable efforts to:

(A) confirm the amendment, suspension, or revocation;

(B) record the amendment, suspension, or revocation in the principal's medical record;

(C) flag the amendment, suspension, or revocation in the principal's medical record on the front of the medical folder or on the front of any advance directive filed in the medical record;

(D) notify the principal, agent, and guardian of the amendment, suspension, or revocation; and

(E) inform the registry of the amendment, suspension, or revocation.

(2) A clinician, health care provider, health care facility, or residential care facility who becomes aware of an amendment, suspension, or revocation while treating a principal with capacity shall comply with the following requirements:

(A) satisfy the requirements of subdivisions (1)(A), (B), and (C) of this subsection (c); and

(B) on request, assist the principal in notifying agents, guardians, interested individuals, and the registry.

(3) A health care provider, health care facility, or residential care facility not currently providing health or residential care to a principal who becomes aware of an amendment, suspension, or revocation shall ensure that the amendment, suspension, or revocation is recorded and flagged in the principal's medical record and is submitted to the registry.

(4) An agent or guardian who becomes aware of an amendment, suspension, or revocation shall make reasonable efforts to:

(A) confirm the amendment, suspension, or revocation;

(B) ensure that the amendment, suspension, or revocation is recorded in the principal's medical record; and

(C) provide notice of the amendment, suspension, or revocation to:

(i) the principal's clinician, health care provider, health care facility, or residential care facility;

(ii) any person designated in the advance directive to receive such notice;

(iii) any entity or individual known to hold a copy of the principal's advance directive; and

(iv) the registry, if the principal's advance directive has been submitted to the registry.

(d)(1) The filing of an action or motion for annulment, divorce, dissolution of a civil union, legal separation, or an order for relief from abuse under 15 V.S.A. chapter 21 or 33 V.S.A. chapter 69, subchapter 2 by, on behalf of, or against the principal suspends a previous designation of the spouse or other party opposing the principal in the action as agent unless otherwise specified in the advance directive, decree, or order of the court.

(2) A designation of agent suspended under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall no longer be in effect, and the agent shall be reinstated, upon the withdrawal of the action or motion for annulment, divorce, dissolution of civil union, legal separation, or order for relief from abuse, or upon the expiration of a temporary order for relief from abuse.

(3) A designation of agent suspended under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall become permanent when the annulment, divorce, dissolution of civil union, or legal separation becomes final, or when the motion for relief from abuse is granted.

(e) Unless otherwise provided for in an advance directive, each provision of an advance directive is severable from the other provisions in an advance directive if it can be given effect independently.
18 V.S.A. § 7511 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 179 / Section 7511
§ 7511. Transportation
Status: in_force

(a) The Commissioner shall ensure that all reasonable and appropriate measures consistent with public safety are made to transport or escort a person subject to this chapter to and from any hospital, secure residential recovery facility, or psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner in any manner that:

(1) prevents physical and psychological trauma;

(2) respects the privacy of the individual; and

(3) represents the least restrictive means necessary for the safety of the patient.

(b) The Commissioner shall have the authority to designate the professionals or law enforcement officers who may authorize the method of transport of patients under the Commissioner's care and custody.

(c) When a professional or law enforcement officer designated pursuant to subsection (b) of this section decides an individual is in need of secure transport with mechanical restraints, the reasons for such determination shall be documented in writing.

(d) It is the policy of the State of Vermont that mechanical restraints are not routinely used on persons subject to this chapter unless circumstances dictate that such methods are necessary. A law enforcement vehicle shall have soft restraints available for use as a first option, and mechanical restraints shall not be used as a substitute for soft restraints if the soft restraints are otherwise deemed adequate for safety.
18 V.S.A. § 4631 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 91 / Section 4631
§ 4631. Confidentiality of prescription information
Status: in_force

(a) It is the intent of the General Assembly to advance the State's interest in protecting the public health of Vermonters, protecting the privacy of prescribers and prescribing information, and to ensure costs are contained in the private health care sector, as well as for State purchasers of prescription drugs, through the promotion of less costly drugs and ensuring prescribers receive unbiased information.

(b) As used in this section:

(1) “Electronic transmission intermediary” means an entity that provides the infrastructure that connects the computer systems or other electronic devices used by health care professionals, prescribers, pharmacies, health care facilities and pharmacy benefit managers, health insurers, third-party administrators, and agents and contractors of those persons in order to facilitate the secure transmission of an individual's prescription drug order, refill, authorization request, claim, payment, or other prescription drug information.

(2) “Health care facility” shall have the same meaning as in section 9402 of this title.

(3) “Health care professional” shall have the same meaning as health care provider in section 9402 of this title.

(4) “Health insurer” shall have the same meaning as in section 9410 of this title.

(5) “Marketing” shall include advertising, promotion, or any activity that is intended to be used or is used to influence sales or the market share of a prescription drug, influence or evaluate the prescribing behavior of an individual health care professional to promote a prescription drug, market prescription drugs to patients, or evaluate the effectiveness of a professional pharmaceutical detailing sales force.

(6) “Pharmacy” means any individual or entity licensed or registered under 26 V.S.A. chapter 36.

(7) “Prescriber” means an individual allowed by law to prescribe and administer prescription drugs in the course of professional practice.

(8) “Promotion” or “promote” means any activity or product the intention of which is to advertise or publicize a prescription drug, including a brochure, media advertisement or announcement, poster, free sample, detailing visit, or personal appearance.

(9) “Regulated records” means information or documentation from a prescription dispensed in Vermont and written by a prescriber doing business in Vermont.

(c)(1) The Department of Health and the Office of Professional Regulation, in consultation with the appropriate licensing boards, shall establish a prescriber data-sharing program to allow a prescriber to give consent for his or her identifying information to be used for the purposes described under subsection (d) of this section. The Department and Office shall solicit the prescriber's consent on licensing applications or renewal forms and shall provide a prescriber a method for revoking his or her consent. The Department and Office may establish rules for this program.

(2) The Department or Office shall make available the list of prescribers who have consented to sharing their information. Entities who wish to use the information as provided for in this section shall review the list at minimum every six months.

(d) A health insurer, a self-insured employer, an electronic transmission intermediary, a pharmacy, or other similar entity shall not sell, license, or exchange for value regulated records containing prescriber-identifiable information, nor permit the use of regulated records containing prescriber-identifiable information for marketing or promoting a prescription drug, unless the prescriber consents as provided in subsection (c) of this section. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmaceutical marketers shall not use prescriber-identifiable information for marketing or promoting a prescription drug unless the prescriber consents as provided in subsection (c) of this section.

(e) The prohibitions set forth in subsection (d) of this section shall not apply to the following:

(1) the sale, license, exchange for value, or use of regulated records for the limited purposes of pharmacy reimbursement; prescription drug formulary compliance; patient care management; utilization review by a health care professional, the patient's health insurer, or the agent of either; or health care research;

(2) the dispensing of prescription medications to a patient or to the patient's authorized representative;

(3) the transmission of prescription information between an authorized prescriber and a licensed pharmacy, between licensed pharmacies, or that may occur in the event a pharmacy's ownership is changed or transferred;

(4) care management educational communications provided to a patient about the patient's health condition, adherence to a prescribed course of therapy, and other information relating to the drug being dispensed, treatment options, recall or patient safety notices, or clinical trials;

(5) the collection, use, or disclosure of prescription information or other regulatory activity as authorized by chapter 84, chapter 84A, or section 9410 of this title, or as otherwise provided by law;

(6) the collection and transmission of prescription information to a Vermont or federal law enforcement officer engaged in his or her official duties as otherwise provided by law; and

(7) the sale, license, exchange for value, or use of patient and prescriber data for marketing or promoting if the data do not identify a prescriber, and there is no reasonable basis to believe that the data provided could be used to identify a prescriber.

(f) In addition to any other remedy provided by law, the Attorney General may file an action in Superior Court for a violation of this section or of any rules adopted under this section by the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall have the same authority to investigate and to obtain remedies as if the action were brought under the Vermont Consumer Protection Act, 9 V.S.A. chapter 63. Each violation of this section or of any rules adopted under this section by the Attorney General constitutes a separate civil violation for which the Attorney General may obtain relief.
18 V.S.A. § 4683 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 91 / Section 4683
§ 4683. Medicaid unaffected
Status: in_force

Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to apply to the Vermont Medicaid program as payor.
18 V.S.A. § 2357 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 53 / Section 2357
§ 2357. Inspections [Effective January 1, 2027 or on effective date of rules]
Status: in_force

(a) The Department of Health or its designee shall make or cause to be made such inspections and investigations as the Department or its designee deems necessary.

(b) A birth center, including its building and grounds and, in accordance with applicable law, its records, shall be subject to inspection by the Department and its designee at all times.

(c) If a birth center is found to be out of compliance with any requirement of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, the Department may condition, deny, suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew the birth center's license or may ask the birth center to develop and implement a corrective action plan.

(d) If the Department finds a violation as the result of an inspection or investigation, the Department shall post a report on the Department's website summarizing the violation and any corrective action required.
18 V.S.A. § 4230i — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 84 / Section 4230i
§ 4230i. Exceptions
Status: in_force

(a) A person who is convicted of a felony for selling cannabis in violation of section 4230 of this title or selling a regulated drug to minors or on school grounds in violation of section 4237 of this title for an offense that occurred on or after July 1, 2018 and who possesses one ounce or less of cannabis or five grams or less of hashish commits a civil violation and shall be assessed a civil penalty as follows:

(1) not more than $200.00 for a first offense;

(2) not more than $300.00 for a second offense; and

(3) not more than $500.00 for a third or subsequent offense.

(b) A person who is convicted of a felony for selling cannabis in violation of section 4230 of this title or selling a regulated drug to minors or on school grounds in violation of section 4237 of this title for an offense that occurred on or after July 1, 2018 and who possesses any of the following commits a misdemeanor and is subject to imprisonment of not more than one year or a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both:

(1) more than one ounce, but not more than two ounces of cannabis;

(2) more than five grams, but not more than 10 grams of hashish; or

(3) not more than six mature cannabis plants and 12 immature cannabis plants.
18 V.S.A. § 9409 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9409
§ 9409. Health care provider bargaining groups
Status: in_force

(a) The Green Mountain Care Board may approve the creation of one or more health care provider bargaining groups, consisting of health care providers who choose to participate. A bargaining group is authorized to negotiate on behalf of all participating providers with the Secretary of Administration, the Secretary of Human Services, the Green Mountain Care Board, or the Commissioner of Labor with respect to any matter in this chapter; chapter 13, 219, 220, or 222 of this title; 21 V.S.A. chapter 9; and 33 V.S.A. chapters 18 and 19 with respect to provider regulation, provider reimbursement, administrative simplification, information technology, workforce planning, or quality of health care.

(b) The Green Mountain Care Board shall adopt by rule criteria for forming and approving bargaining groups and criteria and procedures for negotiations authorized by this section.

(c) The rules relating to negotiations shall include a nonbinding arbitration process to assist in the resolution of disputes. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Administration, the Secretary of Human Services, the Green Mountain Care Board, or the Commissioner of Labor to reject the recommendation or decision of the arbiter.
18 V.S.A. § 5014 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 101 / Section 5014
§ 5014. Confidentiality
Status: in_force

(a)(1) A vital record, or information in a vital record, that by law is designated confidential or by a similar term, that by law may only be disclosed to specifically designated persons, or that by law is not a public record, is exempt from inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and shall be kept confidential to the extent provided by law.

(2) Records or information described in subdivision (1) of this subsection may be disclosed:

(A) for public health or research purposes in accordance with law;

(B) to a regulatory or law enforcement agency for enforcement purposes, if the agency has agreed to accept the terms of an agreement with the Office of Vital Records governing use and confidentiality of the information;

(C) to the vital records office of another state, if the subject of the vital record was a resident of the other state at the time of the vital event that led to creation of the record; or

(D) in a summary, statistical, or other format in which particular individuals are not identified directly or indirectly.

(b)(1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a)(2) of this section and subdivision (2) of this subsection, the following information is exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act; shall be kept confidential; and, in any civil action, shall not be subject to discovery or subpoena or be admissible:

(A) Social Security information and information collected only for medical and health purposes in reports of birth;

(B) Social Security numbers in reports of death or in preliminary reports of death;

(C) prior marriage and legal guardianship information and elections to dissolve a civil union in a marriage or civil union license or license application;

(D) such other information contained in a vital record as the State Registrar may designate through a rule adopted pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25, but only if the designation is necessary to protect the privacy of an individual.

(2) The person who is the subject of the record or his or her authorized representative shall be entitled to obtain a copy of the information.

(c) Information in or received from the Vital Records Alert System is exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and shall be kept confidential, except that, in addition to the exceptions to confidentiality provided in subdivision (a)(2) of this section, such information may be shared with an issuing agent in order to correct and prevent mistakes and criminal activity.
18 V.S.A. § 7257a — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 174 / Section 7257a
§ 7257a. Mental Health Crisis Response Commission
Status: in_force

(a) There is created the Mental Health Crisis Response Commission within the Office of the Attorney General for the following purposes:

(1) to conduct reviews of law enforcement interactions with persons acting in a manner that created reason to believe a mental health crisis was occurring and resulted in a fatality or serious bodily injury to any party to the interaction;

(2) to identify where increased or alternative supports or strategic investments within law enforcement, designated agencies, or other community service systems could improve outcomes;

(3) to educate the public, service providers, and policymakers about strategies for intervention in and prevention of mental health crises;

(4) to recommend policies, practices, and services that will encourage collaboration and increase successful interventions between law enforcement and persons acting in a manner that created reason to believe a mental health crisis was occurring;

(5) to recommend training strategies for public safety, emergency, or other crisis response personnel that will increase successful interventions; and

(6) to make recommendations based on the review of cases before the Commission.

(b)(1) Each incident involving an interaction between law enforcement and a person acting in a manner that created reason to believe a mental health crisis was occurring that results in a death or serious bodily injury to any party shall be referred to the Office of the Attorney General by the relevant law enforcement agency for review, analysis, and recommendations within 60 days after the incident. Interactions not resulting in death or serious bodily injury may be referred for optional review to the Commission, including review of interactions with positive outcomes that could serve to provide guidance on effective strategies. A law enforcement officer or mental health crisis responder involved in such an interaction is encouraged to refer it to the Commission.

(2) The review process shall not commence until any criminal prosecution arising out of the incident is concluded or the Attorney General and State's Attorney provide written notice to the Commission that no criminal charges shall be filed.

(c)(1) The Commission shall comprise the following members:

(A) the Attorney General or designee from a division other than that investigating the interaction;

(B) the Commissioner of Mental Health or designee;

(C) a member of the Vermont State Police, appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety;

(D) a representative of frontline local law enforcement, appointed by the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police;

(E) the Executive Director of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council or designee;

(F) a representative of the designated agencies, appointed by Vermont Care Partners;

(G) the director of Disability Rights Vermont or designee;

(H) an individual who has a personal experience of living with a mental condition or psychiatric disability, appointed by Vermont Psychiatric Survivors;

(I) a family member of an individual who experienced or is experiencing a mental condition or psychiatric disability, appointed by the Vermont chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness; and

(J) two regionally diverse at-large members, appointed by the Governor, who are not representative of subdivisions (A)-(G) of this subdivision (c)(1), such as an emergency dispatcher, specialist in interactions between law enforcement and individuals with a perceived mental condition, or a representative of the Vermont Human Rights Commission or Vermont Legal Aid.

(2) The members of the Commission specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall serve two-year terms. Any vacancy on the Commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The replacement member shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(3) Members who are part of an organization involved in an interaction under review shall recuse themselves from that review and shall not access any information related to it. The Commission may appoint an interim replacement member to fill the category represented by the recused member for review of that interaction.

(d)(1) The Attorney General or designee shall call the first meeting of the Commission to occur on or before September 30, 2017.

(2) The Commission shall select a chair and vice chair from among its members at the first meeting and annually thereafter.

(3) The Commission shall meet at such times as may reasonably be necessary to carry out its duties, but at least once in each calendar quarter.

(e) In any case under review by the Commission, upon written request of the Commission, a person who possesses information or records that are necessary and relevant to review an interaction shall, as soon as practicable, provide the Commission with the information and records. The Commission may subpoena information or records necessary and relevant to the review of an interaction from any person who does not provide information or records in his or her possession to the Commission upon receiving an initial written request. A person who provides information or records upon request of the Commission is not criminally or civilly liable for providing information or records in compliance with this section.

(f) The proceedings and records of the Commission are confidential and are not subject to subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence in a civil or criminal action. The Commission shall not use the information, records, or data for purposes other than those designated by subsections (a) and (i) of this section.

(g) To the extent permitted under federal law, the Commission may enter into agreements with nonprofit organizations and private agencies to obtain otherwise confidential information.

(h) Commission meetings are confidential and shall be exempt from 1 V.S.A. chapter 5, subchapter 2 (the Vermont Open Meeting Law). Commission records are exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and shall be kept confidential.

(i) Notwithstanding 2 V.S.A. § 20(d), the Commission shall report its conclusions and recommendations to the Governor, General Assembly, and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court as the Commission deems necessary, but no less frequently than once per calendar year. The report shall disclose individually identifiable health information only to the extent necessary to convey the Commission's conclusions and recommendations, and any such disclosures shall be limited to information already known to the public. The report shall be available to the public through the Office of the Attorney General.
18 V.S.A. § 1806 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 41 / Section 1806
§ 1806. Construction program
Status: in_force

The construction program shall provide, in accordance with the regulations prescribed under the federal act, for adequate hospital and medical facilities for the people residing in this State and, insofar as possible, shall provide for their distribution throughout the State in such manner as to make all types of hospital and medical facility services reasonably accessible to all persons in the State.
18 V.S.A. § 5536 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5536
§ 5536. Order
Status: in_force

If sufficient cause is not shown to the contrary, at the time appointed for that purpose, the court shall order and decree that such lot shall escheat to the agency.
18 V.S.A. § 9011 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 209 / Section 9011
§ 9011. Supplementary agreements-Article XI
Status: in_force

The duly constituted administrative authorities of any two or more party states may enter into supplementary agreements for the provision of any service or facility or for the maintenance of any institution on a joint or cooperative basis whenever the states concerned shall find that such agreements will improve services, facilities, or institutional care and treatment in the fields of mental illness or developmental disability. No such supplementary agreement shall be construed so as to relieve any party state of any obligation that it otherwise would have under other provisions of this compact.
18 V.S.A. § 4391 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 85 / Section 4391
§ 4391. Milk to be served in original container
Status: in_force

A person, firm, or corporation owning or operating a hotel, restaurant, store, lunch room, fountain, roadside booth or stand, or a boarding house that makes a practice of serving meals to transients and who purchases milk for resale or to serve to his or her patrons shall not either directly or by an agent, servant, or employee sell or serve milk for drinking purposes to his or her patrons unless such milk is served or sold in the original bottle or like container in which the milk was delivered to such hotel, restaurant, store, lunch room, fountain, roadside lunch booth or stand, or boarding house.
18 V.S.A. § 5490 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5490
§ 5490. Notice; hearing
Status: in_force

The commissioners shall appoint a time and place for examination of the premises and appraisal of the damages. They shall give six days' notice thereof to the president or to one or more of the trustees of such association, and to the owner or occupant of such land either personally or by written notice left at the residence of such owner or occupant, and shall examine the premises and inquire into the public necessity and convenience of such enlargement.
18 V.S.A. § 4772 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 93 / Section 4772
§ 4772. Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee
Status: in_force

(a) Creation. There is created the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations regarding remediation spending from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund established pursuant to this subchapter.

(b) Membership.

(1) The Advisory Committee shall be composed of the following members and shall reflect the diversity of Vermont in terms of gender, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and socioeconomic status and ensure inclusion of individuals with lived experience of opioid use disorder and their family members whenever possible:

(A) the Commissioner of Health or designee, who shall serve as a nonvoting chair;

(B) the Chief Prevention Officer established pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 2321;

(C) one current member of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House;

(D) one current member of the Senate, appointed by the Committee on Committees;

(E) a primary care prescriber with experience providing medication for opioid use disorder within the Blueprint for Health hub and spoke model, appointed by the Executive Director of the Blueprint for Health, to provide a statewide perspective on the provision of medication for opioid use disorder services;

(F) a provider with academic research credentials, appointed by the University of Vermont, to provide a statewide perspective on academic research relating to opioid use disorder;

(G) two individuals with lived experience of opioid use disorder, including at least one of whom is in recovery, one member appointed by the Howard Center's Safe Recovery program and one member appointed by the Vermont Association of Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, to provide a statewide perspective on the experience of living with opioid use disorder;

(H) an assistant judge, appointed by the Vermont Association of County Judges; and

(I) seven individuals, each employed by or an agent of a different city or town that collectively reflect Vermont's diverse population and geography, appointed by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.

(2)(A) The term of office of each appointed member shall be four years. Of the members first appointed, eight shall be appointed for a term of three years and eight shall be appointed for a term of four years. Members shall hold office for the term of their appointments and until their successors have been appointed. All vacancies shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment. Members are eligible for reappointment.

(B) A member may be removed from the Advisory Committee by the member's appointing entity for cause, which includes only neglect of duty, gross misconduct, conviction of a crime, or inability to perform the responsibilities of the office. The Chair of the Advisory Committee shall simultaneously notify the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the President Pro Tempore that the member has been removed from the Advisory Committee.

(c) Powers and duties. The Advisory Committee shall demonstrate broad ongoing consultation with individuals living with opioid use disorder about their direct experience with related systems, including medication for opioid use disorder, residential treatment, recovery services, harm reduction services, overdose, supervision by the Department of Corrections, and involvement with the Department for Children and Families' Family Services Division. To that end, the Advisory Committee shall demonstrate consultation with individuals with direct lived experience of opioid use disorder, frontline support professionals, the Substance Misuse Oversight Prevention and Advisory Council, and other stakeholders to identify spending priorities as related to opioid use disorder prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery services and harm reduction strategies for the purpose of providing recommendations to the Governor, the Department of Health, and the General Assembly on prioritizing spending from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund. The Advisory Committee shall consider:

(1) the impact of the opioid crisis on communities throughout Vermont, including communities' abatement needs and proposals for abatement strategies and responses;

(2) the perspectives of and proposals from opioid use disorder prevention coalitions, recovery centers, and medication for opioid use disorder providers; and

(3) the ongoing challenges of the opioid crisis on marginalized populations, including individuals who have a lived experience of opioid use disorder.

(d) Assistance. The Advisory Committee shall have the administrative, technical, and legal assistance of the Department of Health.

(e) Presentation. Annually, the Advisory Committee shall vote on its recommendations. Recommendations shall be informed by outcomes and measurements reported by previous grantees. If the recommendations are supported by an affirmative vote of the majority, the Advisory Committee shall present its recommendations for expenditures from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund established pursuant to this subchapter to the Department of Health and concurrently submit its recommendations in writing to the House Committees on Appropriations and on Human Services and the Senate Committees on Appropriations and on Health and Welfare. The Advisory Committee's written recommendations shall address how each recommendation meets one or more of the criteria listed in subsections 4774(b) and (c) of this subchapter. The Advisory Committee shall give priority consideration to services requiring funding on an ongoing basis.

(f) Meetings.

(1) The Commissioner of Health shall call the first meeting of the Advisory Committee to occur on or before June 30, 2022.

(2) Annually, the Advisory Committee shall elect a voting vice chair from among its nongovernmental members.

(3) The Advisory Committee shall meet at least quarterly but not more than 12 times per calendar year.

(4) The Advisory Committee shall adopt procedures to govern its proceedings and organization, including voting procedures and how the staggered terms shall be apportioned among members.

(5) All meetings of the Advisory Committee shall be consistent with Vermont's Open Meeting Law pursuant to 1 V.S.A. chapter 5, subchapter 2.

(g) Compensation and reimbursement.

(1) For attendance at meetings during adjournment of the General Assembly, a legislative member of the Advisory Committee serving in the member's capacity as a legislator shall be entitled to per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 2 V.S.A. § 23 for not more than 12 meetings per year. These payments shall be appropriated from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund.

(2) Other members of the Advisory Committee shall be entitled to per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses as permitted under 32 V.S.A. § 1010 for not more than 12 meetings per year. These payments shall be appropriated from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund.
18 V.S.A. § 8846 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 206 / Section 8846
§ 8846. Right to initiate review
Status: in_force

A person may initiate a judicial review in the Family Division of the Superior Court or an administrative review under this subchapter at any time after 90 days following a current order of commitment or continued commitment and not earlier than six months after the filing of a previous application under this section. If the court or Commissioner finds that the person is not a person in need of custody, care, and habilitation or continued custody, care, and habilitation, the person shall be discharged from the custody of the Commissioner pursuant to section 8847 of this subchapter.
18 V.S.A. § 5250d — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 110 / Section 5250d
§ 5250d. Who may make anatomical gift before donor's death
Status: in_force

Subject to section 5250h of this title, an anatomical gift of a donor's body or part may be made during the life of the donor for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education in the manner provided in section 5250e of this title by:

(1) the donor, if the donor is an adult or if the donor is a minor and is either:

(A) emancipated; or

(B) authorized under State law to apply for a driver's license or nondriver identification card and is at least 16 years of age;

(2) an agent of the donor, unless the advance directive or other record prohibits the agent from making an anatomical gift;

(3) a parent of the donor, if the donor is an unemancipated minor; or

(4) the donor's guardian.
18 V.S.A. § 2152 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 49 / Section 2152
§ 2152. Application; fee
Status: in_force

(a) An application for licensure of an ambulatory surgical center shall be made to the Department of Health on forms provided by the Department and shall include all information required by the Department. Each application for a license shall be accompanied by a license fee.

(b) The annual licensing fee for an ambulatory surgical center shall be $600.00.

(c) Fees collected under this section shall be credited to the Hospital Licensing Fees Special Fund and shall be available to the Department of Health to offset the costs of licensing ambulatory surgical centers.
18 V.S.A. § 251 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 6 / Section 251
§§ 251-255. Recodified. 1999, No. 62, § 123e
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Cultural competency” means a set of integrated attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enables a health care professional to care effectively for patients from cultures, groups, and communities other than that of the health care professional. At a minimum, cultural competency should include the following:

(A) awareness and acknowledgement of the health care professional's own culture;

(B) utilization of cultural information to establish therapeutic relationships;

(C) eliciting and incorporating pertinent cultural data in diagnosis and treatment;

(D) understanding and applying cultural and ethnic data to the process of clinical care; and

(E) the ability to recognize the importance of communication, language fluency, and interpretation in the provision of health care services and assist with access to interpretation and appropriate communication services.

(2) “Cultural humility” means the ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented, or open to the other, in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are most important to the client or patient.

(3) “Health disparity” means differences that exist among specific population groups in the United States in attaining individuals' full health potential that can be measured by differences in incidence, prevalence, mortality, burden of disease, and other adverse health conditions.

(4) “Health equity” means all people have a fair and just opportunity to be healthy, especially those who have experienced socioeconomic disadvantage, historical injustice, and other avoidable systemic inequalities that are often associated with the social categories of race, gender, ethnicity, social position, sexual orientation, and disability.

(5) “Health equity data” means demographic data, including race, ethnicity, primary language, age, gender, socioeconomic position, sexual orientation, disability, homelessness, or geographic data that can be used to track health equity.

(6) “LGBTQ” means Vermonters who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning.

(7) “Non-White” means Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color. It is not intended to reflect self-identity, but rather how people are categorized in the racial system on which discrimination has been historically based in the United States and how Vermont typically disaggregates data solely by White and non-White.

(8) “Race and ethnicity” mean the categories for classifying individuals that have been created by prevailing social perceptions, historical policies, and practices. Race and ethnicity include how individuals perceive themselves and how individuals are perceived by others.

(9) “Social determinants of health” are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, such as poverty, income and wealth inequality, racism, and sex discrimination, that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. They can be grouped into five domains: economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. Social determinants of health are systematic, interconnected, cumulative, and intergenerational conditions that are associated with lower capacity to fully participate in society.
18 V.S.A. § 9314 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 215 / Section 9314
§ 9314. Annual review
Status: in_force

(a) The Commissioner shall prepare an annual review of the social adjustment and progress of every person who is receiving guardianship services under this chapter. A copy of the review shall be kept on file by the Commissioner and shall be made available upon the request of the person with developmental disabilities and such other people as receive the written permission of the person or the Commissioner.

(b) The Commissioner shall annually review the legal status of each person receiving services under this chapter. If the Commissioner determines that the annual review of social adjustment and progress warrants a modification or termination of guardianship services for the person, the Commissioner shall petition the Family Division of the Superior Court pursuant to section 9316 of this title for the appropriate relief.
18 V.S.A. § 2051 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 46 / Section 2051
§ 2051. Definitions
Status: repealed

For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise clearly requires:

(1) “Director” means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation.

(2) “Nursing home” means any institution or facility, whether proprietary or nonproprietary, defined as a nursing home for licensing purposes pursuant to 33 V.S.A. § 7102(7), or the equivalent facility or facilities as defined by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

(3) “Nursing home administrator” means a person who is duly licensed by the Director and who is charged with the general administration of a nursing home whether or not the individual has an ownership interest in the home and whether or not his or her functions and duties are shared with one or more other individuals.

(4) [Repealed.]
18 V.S.A. § 9005 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 209 / Section 9005
§ 9005. Escape of patients-Article V
Status: in_force

Whenever a dangerous or potentially dangerous patient escapes from an institution in any party state, that state shall promptly notify all appropriate authorities within and without the jurisdiction of the escape in a manner reasonably calculated to facilitate the speedy apprehension of the escapee. Immediately upon the apprehension and identification of any such dangerous or potentially dangerous patient, he or she shall be detained in the state where found pending disposition in accordance with law.
18 V.S.A. § 7621 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 181 / Section 7621
§ 7621. Hearing on application for continued treatment; orders
Status: in_force

(a) The hearing on the application for continued treatment shall be held in accordance with the procedures set forth in sections 7613, 7614, 7615, and 7616 of this title.

(b) If the court finds that the patient is a patient in need of further treatment and requires hospitalization, it shall order hospitalization for up to one year.

(c) If the court finds that the patient is a patient in need of further treatment but does not require hospitalization, it shall order nonhospitalization for up to one year. If the treatment plan proposed by the Commissioner for a patient in need of further treatment includes admission to a secure residential recovery facility or a psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth, the court may at any time, on its own motion or on motion of an interested party, review the need for treatment at the secure residential recovery facility or the psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth, respectively.

(d) If at any time during the period of nonhospitalization ordered under subsection (c) of this section, it comes to the attention of the court that the person is not complying with the order or that the alternative treatment has not been adequate to meet the patient's treatment needs, the court may, after proper hearing:

(1) consider other treatments not involving hospitalization, modify its original order, and direct the patient to undergo another program of alternative treatment for an indeterminate period, up to the expiration date of the original order; or

(2) order that the patient be hospitalized, up to the expiration date of the original order.

(e) If the court finds that the patient is not a patient in need of further treatment, it shall order the patient discharged.

(f) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the court from issuing subsequent orders after a new application is filed pursuant to section 7620 of this title.
18 V.S.A. § 9419 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9419
§ 9419. Charges for access to medical records
Status: in_force

(a) A custodian may impose a charge that is no more than a flat $5.00 fee or no more than $0.50 per page, whichever is greater, for providing copies of an individual's health care record. A custodian shall provide an individual or the authorized recipient with an itemized bill for the charges assessed. A custodian shall not charge for providing copies of any health care record requested to support a claim or an appeal under any provision of the Social Security Act or for any other federal or State needs-based benefit or program.

(b) A custodian may charge an individual a fee, reasonably related to the associated costs, for providing copies of X-rays, films, models, disks, tapes, or other health care record information maintained in other formats.

(c) As used in this section:

(1) “Custodian” means any person who maintains health care information for any lawful purpose, including a health care provider, a health care facility, or a health insurer.

(2) “Health care record” means all written and recorded health care information about an individual maintained by a custodian.

(3) “Individual” means a natural person, alive or dead, who is the subject of health care information and includes, when appropriate, the individual's attorney-in-fact; legal guardian; health care agent, as defined in chapter 231 of this title; executor; or administrator.
18 V.S.A. § 7201 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 173 / Section 7201
§ 7201. Mental health
Status: in_force

(a) The Department of Mental Health, as the successor to the Division of Mental Health Services of the Department of Health, shall centralize and more efficiently establish the general policy and execute the programs and services of the State concerning mental health, and integrate and coordinate those programs and services with the programs and services of other departments of the State, its political subdivisions, and private agencies, so as to provide a flexible comprehensive service to all citizens of the State in mental health and related problems.

(b) The Department shall ensure equal access to appropriate mental health care in a manner equivalent to other aspects of health care as part of an integrated, holistic system of care.
18 V.S.A. § 4027 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 81 / Section 4027
§ 4027. Penalty
Status: in_force

A person who violates a provision of section 4026 of this title shall be fined not more than $100.00.
18 V.S.A. § 1555 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 30 / Section 1555
§ 1555. Information related to maternal mortality
Status: in_force

(a)(1) Health care providers; health care facilities; clinics; laboratories; medical records departments; and State offices, agencies, and departments shall report all maternal mortality deaths to the Chair of the Maternal Mortality Review Panel and to the Commissioner of Health or designee.

(2) The Commissioner and the Chair may acquire the information described in subdivision (1) of this subsection from health care facilities, maternal mortality review programs, and other sources in other states to ensure that the Panel's records of Vermont maternal mortality cases are accurate and complete.

(b)(1) In any case under review by the Panel, upon written request of the Commissioner or designee, a person who possesses information or records that are necessary and relevant to the review of a maternal mortality shall, as soon as practicable, provide the Panel with the information and records. All requests for information or records by the Commissioner or designee related to a case under review shall be provided by the person possessing the information or records to the Panel at no cost.

(2) The Commissioner or designee may retain identifiable information regarding facilities where maternal deaths occur and geographic information on each case solely for the purposes of trending and analysis over time. In accordance with the rules adopted pursuant to subdivision 1556(4) of this title, all individually identifiable information on individuals and identifiable information on facilities shall be removed prior to any case review by the Panel.

(3) The Chair shall not acquire or retain any individually identifiable information.

(4) As used in this subsection, “individually identifiable information” includes vital records; hospital discharge data; prenatal, fetal, pediatric, or infant medical records; hospital or clinic records; laboratory reports; records of fetal deaths or induced terminations of pregnancies; and autopsy reports.

(c) If a root cause analysis of a maternal mortality event has been completed, the findings of such analysis shall be included in the records supplied to the review Panel.
18 V.S.A. § 2158 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 49 / Section 2158
§ 2158. Nonapplicability
Status: in_force

The provisions of chapter 42 of this title, Bill of Rights for Hospital Patients, do not apply to ambulatory surgical centers.
18 V.S.A. § 8914 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 207 / Section 8914
§ 8914. Rates of payments to designated and specialized service agencies
Status: in_force

The Secretary of Human Services shall calculate the Departments of Health's, of Mental Health's, and of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living's rates of payments for designated and specialized service agencies in accordance with 33 V.S.A. § 911.
18 V.S.A. § 9418a — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9418a
§ 9418a. Processing claims, downcoding, and adherence to coding rules [Effective January 1, 2026; see also section 9418a effective until January 1, 2026 set out above]
Status: repealed

(a) Health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall accept and initiate the processing of all health care claims submitted by a health care provider pursuant to and consistent with the current version of the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, reporting guidelines, and conventions; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS); American Society of Anesthesiologists; the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI); the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs coding; or other appropriate nationally recognized standards, guidelines, or conventions approved by the Commissioner.

(b) When editing claims, health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall adhere to edit standards except as provided in subsection (c) of this section:

(1) the CPT, HCPCS, and NCCI;

(2) national specialty society edit standards; or

(3) other appropriate nationally recognized edit standards, guidelines, or conventions approved by the Commissioner.

(c) Adherence to the edit standards in subdivision (b)(1) or (2) of this section is not required:

(1) when necessary to comply with State or federal laws, rules, regulations, or coverage mandates; or

(2) for edits that the payer determines are more favorable to providers than the edit standards in subdivisions (b)(1) through (3) of this section or to address new codes not yet incorporated by a payer's edit management software, provided the edit standards are developed with input from the relevant Vermont provider community and national provider organizations and provided the edits are available to providers on the plan's websites and in their newsletters.

(d) [Reserved.]

(e)(1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, no health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall subject any health care provider to prepayment coding validation edit review. As used in this subsection, “prepayment coding validation edit review” means any action by the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer, or by a contractor, assignee, agent, or other entity acting on its behalf, requiring a health care provider to provide medical record documentation in conjunction with or after submission of a claim for payment for health care services delivered, but before the claim has been adjudicated.

(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit targeted prepayment coding validation edit review of a specific provider, provider group, or facility under certain circumstances, including evaluating high-dollar claims; verifying complex financial arrangements; investigating member questions; conducting post-audit monitoring; addressing a reasonable belief of fraud, waste, or abuse; or other circumstances determined by the Commissioner through a bulletin or guidance.

(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer from determining that any such claim is not eligible for payment in full or in part, based on a determination that:

(1) the claim is contested as defined in subdivision 9418(a)(2) of this title;

(2) the service provided is not a covered benefit under the contract, including a determination that such service is not medically necessary or is experimental or investigational;

(3) the insured did not obtain a referral, prior authorization, or precertification, or satisfy any other condition precedent to receiving covered benefits from the health care provider;

(4) the covered benefit exceeds the benefit limits of the contract;

(5) the person is not eligible for coverage or is otherwise not compliant with the terms and conditions of his or her coverage agreement;

(6) the health plan has a reasonable belief that fraud or other intentional misconduct has occurred; or

(7) the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer determines through coordination of benefits that another entity is liable for the claim.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer to pay or reimburse a claim, in full or in part, or to dictate the amount of a claim to be paid by a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer to a health care provider.

(h) No health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall automatically reassign or reduce the code level of evaluation and management codes billed for covered services (downcoding), except that a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer may reassign a new patient visit code to an established patient visit code based solely on CPT codes, CPT guidelines, and CPT conventions.

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f) of this section, and other than the edits contained in the conventions in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall continue to have the right to deny, pend, or adjust claims for services on other bases and shall have the right to reassign or reduce the code level for selected claims for services based on a review of the clinical information provided at the time the service was rendered for the particular claim or a review of the information derived from a health plan's fraud or abuse billing detection programs that create a reasonable belief of fraudulent or abusive billing practices, provided that the decision to reassign or reduce is based primarily on a review of clinical information.

(j) Every health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, and payer shall publish on its provider website and in its provider newsletter if applicable:

(1) the name of any commercially available claims editing software product that the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer utilizes;

(2) the standard or standards, pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, that the entity uses for claim edits;

(3) the payment percentages for modifiers; and

(4) any significant edits, as determined by the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer, added to the claims software product after the effective date of this section, which are made at the request of the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer.

(k) Upon written request, the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall also directly provide the information in subsection (j) of this section to a health care provider who is a participating member in the health plan's, contracting entity's, covered entity's, or payer's provider network.

(l) For purposes of this section, “health plan” includes a workers' compensation policy of a casualty insurer licensed to do business in Vermont.

[Subsection (m) repealed effective January 1, 2028.]

(m) There is established a working group comprising the health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers subject to the reporting requirement in subsection 9414a(b) of this title; representatives of hospitals and health care providers; representatives of the Department of Financial Regulation and of other relevant State agencies; and other interested parties to study trends in coding and billing that health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, or payers, or a combination of them, seek to address through claim editing. The working group shall provide a progress report to the House Committee on Health Care and the Senate Committees on Health and Welfare and on Finance upon request.

[Subsection (n) repealed effective January 1, 2028.]

(n) With respect to the working group established under subsection (m) of this section and to the extent required to avoid violations of federal antitrust laws, the Department shall facilitate and supervise the participation of members of the working group.

(a) Health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall accept and initiate the processing of all health care claims submitted by a health care provider pursuant to and consistent with the current version of the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, reporting guidelines, and conventions; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS); American Society of Anesthesiologists; the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI); the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs coding; or other appropriate nationally recognized standards, guidelines, or conventions approved by the Commissioner.

(b)(1) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, when editing claims, health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall require not more than the following edit standards, processes, and guidelines:

(A) for claims for outpatient and professional services, the NCCI as in effect for Medicare;

(B) for facility claims, the Medicare Code Editor as in effect for Medicare;

(C) for pharmacy claims, appropriate nationally recognized edit standards, guidelines, or conventions; and

(D) for any other claim not addressed by subdivision (A), (B), or (C) of this subdivision (1), other appropriate nationally recognized edit standards, guidelines, or conventions approved by the Commissioner.

(2) For outpatient services, professional services, and facility claims, a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall apply the relevant edit standards, processes, and guidelines from NCCI or Medicare Code Editor pursuant to subdivisions (1)(A) and (B) of this subsection that were in effect for Medicare on the date of the claim submission; provided, however, that if Medicare has changed an applicable edit standard, process, or guideline within 90 days prior to the date of the claim submission, the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer may use the version of the edit standard, process, or guideline that Medicare had applied prior to the most recent change if the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer has not yet released an updated version of its edits in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.

(c) Adherence to the edit standards in subsection (b) of this section is not required:

(1) when necessary to comply with State or federal laws, rules, regulations, or coverage mandates;

(2) for edits that the payer determines are more favorable to providers than the edit standards in subsection (b) of this section or to address new codes not yet incorporated by a payer's edit management software, provided the edit standards are:

(A) developed with input from the relevant Vermont provider community and national provider organizations;

(B) clearly supported by nationally recognized standards, guidelines, or conventions approved by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation; and

(C) available to providers on the plan's websites and in its newsletters or equivalent electronic communications; or

(3) when adjudicating claims for health care services that were delivered outside the State of Vermont, unless the payer and the out-of-state provider agree that one or more of the edit standards set forth in subsection (b) of this section will apply.

(d) Health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall not release edits more than quarterly, to take effect on January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1, as applicable, and the edits shall not be implemented without filing with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation to ensure consistency with nationally recognized standards guidelines, and conventions, and at least 30 days' advance notice to providers. Whenever Medicare changes an edit standard, process, or guideline that it applies to outpatient service, professional service, or facility claims, each health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall incorporate those modifications into its next quarterly release of edits.

(e)(1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, no health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall subject any health care provider to prepayment coding validation edit review. As used in this subsection, “prepayment coding validation edit review” means any action by the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer, or by a contractor, assignee, agent, or other entity acting on its behalf, requiring a health care provider to provide medical record documentation in conjunction with or after submission of a claim for payment for health care services delivered, but before the claim has been adjudicated.

(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit targeted prepayment coding validation edit review of a specific provider, provider group, or facility under certain circumstances, including evaluating high-dollar claims; verifying complex financial arrangements; investigating member questions; conducting post-audit monitoring; addressing a reasonable belief of fraud, waste, or abuse; or other circumstances determined by the Commissioner through a bulletin or guidance.

(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer from determining that any such claim is not eligible for payment in full or in part, based on a determination that:

(1) the claim is contested as defined in subdivision 9418(a)(2) of this title;

(2) the service provided is not a covered benefit under the contract, including a determination that such service is not medically necessary or is experimental or investigational;

(3) the insured did not obtain a referral, prior authorization, or precertification, or satisfy any other condition precedent to receiving covered benefits from the health care provider;

(4) the covered benefit exceeds the benefit limits of the contract;

(5) the person is not eligible for coverage or is otherwise not compliant with the terms and conditions of his or her coverage agreement;

(6) the health plan has a reasonable belief that fraud or other intentional misconduct has occurred; or

(7) the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer determines through coordination of benefits that another entity is liable for the claim.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer to pay or reimburse a claim, in full or in part, or to dictate the amount of a claim to be paid by a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer to a health care provider.

(h) No health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall automatically reassign or reduce the code level of evaluation and management codes billed for covered services (downcoding), except that a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer may reassign a new patient visit code to an established patient visit code based solely on CPT codes, CPT guidelines, and CPT conventions.

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (f) of this section, and other than the edits contained in the conventions in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers shall continue to have the right to deny, pend, or adjust claims for services on other bases and shall have the right to reassign or reduce the code level for selected claims for services based on a review of the clinical information provided at the time the service was rendered for the particular claim or a review of the information derived from a health plan's fraud or abuse billing detection programs that create a reasonable belief of fraudulent or abusive billing practices, provided that the decision to reassign or reduce is based primarily on a review of clinical information.

(j) If adding an edit pursuant to subsection (b) or subdivision (c)(1) or (2) of this section, a health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall publish on its provider website and in its provider newsletter or equivalent electronic provider communications:

(1) the name of any commercially available claims editing software product that the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer utilizes;

(2) the specific standard or standards that the entity uses for claim edits and how those claim edits are supported by those specific standards;

(3) the payment percentages for modifiers; and

(4) the specific edit or edits added to the claims software product.

(k) Upon written request, the health plan, contracting entity, covered entity, or payer shall also directly provide the information in subsection (j) of this section to a health care provider who is a participating member in the health plan's, contracting entity's, covered entity's, or payer's provider network.

(l) For purposes of this section, “health plan” includes a workers' compensation policy of a casualty insurer licensed to do business in Vermont.

[Subsection (m) repealed effective January 1, 2028.]

(m) There is established a working group comprising the health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, and payers subject to the reporting requirement in subsection 9414a(b) of this title; representatives of hospitals and health care providers; representatives of the Department of Financial Regulation and of other relevant State agencies; and other interested parties to study trends in coding and billing that health plans, contracting entities, covered entities, or payers, or a combination of them, seek to address through claim editing. The working group shall provide a progress report to the House Committee on Health Care and the Senate Committees on Health and Welfare and on Finance upon request.

[Subsection (n) repealed effective January 1, 2028.]

(n) With respect to the working group established under subsection (m) of this section and to the extent required to avoid violations of federal antitrust laws, the Department shall facilitate and supervise the participation of members of the working group.
18 V.S.A. § 1222 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 23 / Section 1222
§ 1222. Cyanobacteria monitoring and notification
Status: in_force

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Cyanobacteria” means photosynthetic bacteria that have two photosystems, produce molecular oxygen, and use water as an electron-donating substrate in photosynthesis, including microcystis, anabaena, and aphanizomenon.

(2) “Waters” shall have the same meaning as used in 10 V.S.A. § 1251.

(b) The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Secretary of Natural Resources, shall coordinate efforts to monitor the presence of cyanobacteria in the waters of the State.

(c) The Department of Health shall maintain a publicly accessible Internet site that provides information concerning the presence of cyanobacteria in areas known to be used for recreation, including swimming or boating. Within one hour of a determination that the presence of cyanobacteria in a recreation area is a public health hazard, the Commissioner of Health shall conduct public outreach describing the area affected and the nature of the public health hazard in the area.
18 V.S.A. § 5202a — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 107 / Section 5202a
§ 5202a. Correction, completion, or amendment of death certificate
Status: repealed

(a) Corrections; completions. Within six months after the date of death, the State Registrar may correct or complete a death certificate upon application by the certifying licensed health care professional, medical examiner, hospital, nursing home, or funeral director, if the application and relevant evidence, if any, show that the correction or completion is warranted.

(b) Amendments. After six months from the date of death, any alteration of a death certificate shall be deemed an amendment. Upon application by a person specified in subsection (a) of this section, the State Registrar may amend the death certificate if the application and relevant evidence, if any, show that the amendment is warranted.

(c) Appeal. If the State Registrar denies an application for a correction, completion, or amendment under this section, the applicant may petition the Probate Division of the Superior Court, which shall review the application and relevant evidence de novo to determine if the requested action is warranted. The court shall transmit a decree ordering a correction, completion, or amendment to the State Registrar, who shall take action in accordance with the decree.

(d) Documentation of changes. The State Registrar shall make corrections, completions, and amendments in the Statewide Registration System. A corrected or completed certificate issued from the System shall be free of any evidence of the alteration and shall not be marked “Amended.” Any amended death certificate issued from the System shall indicate the word “Amended” and the date of amendment. The State Registrar shall enter into and maintain in the System the identity of the person requesting the correction, completion, or amendment, the nature and content of the change, the identity of the person making the change in the System, and the date the change was made.

(e) [Repealed.]

(f) Cause of death. The State Registrar shall only correct, complete, or amend the medical certification of the cause of death upon application by the medical examiner or certifying licensed health care professional.
18 V.S.A. § 5572 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5572
§ 5572. Plats
Status: in_force

Before commencing the building, construction, or erection of any such building, the agency constructing the same shall make and file a plat of such structure in accordance with the provisions of sections 5310 and 5311 of this title.
18 V.S.A. § 5575 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 121 / Section 5575
§ 5575. Use before completion prohibited
Status: in_force

A community mausoleum, columbarium, crypt, niche, or structure so erected as aforesaid shall not be used for the purpose of depositing therein the remains of any dead body until the same is finally completed and the maintenance fund required by this chapter has been provided for in accordance with the provisions hereof.
18 V.S.A. § 1661 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 33 / Section 1661
§ 1661. Repealed. 2023, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. January 1, 2026.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Class B firefighting foam” means chemical foams designed for flammable liquid fires.

(2) “Intentionally added” means the addition of a chemical in a product that serves an intended function in the product component.

(3) “Manufacturer” means any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, organization, joint venture, importer, or domestic distributor of firefighting agents or equipment. As used in this subdivision, “importer” means the owner of the product.

(4) “Municipality” means any city, town, incorporated village, town fire district, or other political subdivision that provides firefighting services pursuant to general law or municipal charter.

(5) “Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS” means a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

(6) “Personal protective equipment” means clothing designed, intended, or marketed to be worn by firefighting personnel in the performance of their duties, designed with the intent for use in fire and rescue activities, and includes jackets, pants, shoes, gloves, helmets, and respiratory equipment.

(7) “Terminal” means an establishment primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of crude petroleum and petroleum products, including liquefied petroleum gas from bulk liquid storage facilities.
18 V.S.A. § 5132 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 105 / Section 5132
§ 5132. Civil marriage license; participants in address confidentiality program
Status: in_force

(a) If a participant in the program described in 15 V.S.A. chapter 21, subchapter 3 notifies the town that the participant's confidential address should not appear on the civil marriage license or certificate, then the town clerk shall not disclose such confidential address or the participant's town of residence on any public records. A participant who fails to provide such notice shall be deemed to have waived the provisions of this section. If such notice is received, then notwithstanding section 5131 of this title, the town clerk shall file the civil marriage certificate with the State Registrar within 10 days after receipt, without the confidential address or town of residence, and shall not retain a copy of the civil marriage certificate.

(b) The State Registrar shall receive and file for record all certificates filed in accordance with this section, and shall ensure that a person's confidential address and town of residence do not appear on the civil marriage certificate during the period that the person is a program participant. A certificate filed in accordance with this section shall be a public document. The State Registrar shall notify the Secretary of State of the receipt of a civil marriage certificate on behalf of a program participant.

(c) The Department shall maintain a confidential record of the person's actual mailing address and town of residence. Such record shall be exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act.

(d) Upon the renewal, expiration, withdrawal, invalidation, or cancellation of program participation of any person of whom the Secretary of State received notice from the State Registrar, the Secretary of State shall notify the State Registrar.

(e) Upon notice of the expiration, withdrawal, invalidation, or cancellation of program participation, the State Registrar shall enter the actual mailing address and town of residence on the original marriage certificate and shall transmit the completed original civil marriage certificate to the town clerk where the certificate was issued.

(f) The town clerk shall process certificates received in this manner in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 1681 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 33B / Section 1681
§ 1681. Repealed. 2023, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 10, eff. January 1, 2026.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Aftermarket stain and water resistant treatments” means treatments for textile and leather consumer products used in residential settings that have been treated during the manufacturing process for stain, oil, and water resistance but excludes products marketed or sold exclusively for use at industrial facilities during the manufacture of a carpet, rug, clothing, or shoe.

(2) “Department” means the Department of Health.

(3) “Intentionally added” means the addition of a chemical in a product that serves an intended function in the product component.

(4) “Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS” has the same meaning as in section 1661 of this title.

(5) “Rug or carpet” means a thick fabric used to cover floors.
18 V.S.A. § 4247 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 84 / Section 4247
§ 4247. Disposition of property
Status: repealed

(a) Whenever property is forfeited and delivered to the State Treasurer under this subchapter, the State Treasurer shall, not sooner than 90 days after the date the property is delivered, sell the property at a public sale held under 27 V.S.A. chapter 18, subchapter 7.

(b) The proceeds from the sale of forfeited property shall be used first to offset any costs of selling the property and then, after any liens on the property have been paid in full, applied to payment of seizure, storage, and forfeiture expenses, including animal care expenses related to the underlying violation. Remaining proceeds shall be distributed as follows:

(1)(A) 45 percent shall be distributed among:

(i) the Office of the Attorney General;

(ii) the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs; and

(iii) State and local law enforcement agencies.

[Subsection (b)(1)(B) repealed effective July 1, 2024.]

(B) The Agency of Administration is authorized to determine the allocations among the groups listed in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (1) and may only reimburse the prosecutor and law enforcement agencies that participated in the enforcement effort resulting in the forfeiture for expenses incurred, including actual expenses for involved personnel. The proceeds shall be held by the Treasurer until the Agency notifies the Treasurer of the allocation determinations, at which time the Treasurer shall forward the allocated amounts to the appropriate agency's operating funds.

(2) The remaining 55 percent shall be deposited in the General Fund.
18 V.S.A. § 5213 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 107 / Section 5213
§ 5213. Removal; form and disposition of permit
Status: in_force

Such permit shall state specifically the location of the body's permanent disposition and the time and manner of its removal. A town clerk issuing such a permit shall make it in duplicate if the body is to be removed from the town, one copy of which shall be delivered to the person having charge of the cemetery or tomb from which the body is to be taken, and the other shall be delivered to the person having charge of the cemetery or tomb where it is desired to place the body.
18 V.S.A. § 1097 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 21 / Section 1097
§ 1097. Educational campaign
Status: in_force

The Commissioner shall conduct an educational campaign of methods for the prevention and treatment and care of persons who have venereal diseases.
18 V.S.A. § 1810 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 41 / Section 1810
§ 1810. Priority of projects
Status: in_force

The State plan shall set forth the relative need for the several projects included in the construction program determined in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to the federal act, and provide for the construction, insofar as financial resources available therefor and for maintenance and operation make possible, in the order of such relative need.
18 V.S.A. § 1602 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 31 / Section 1602
§ 1602. Enactment-Article II
Status: in_force

This compact shall become effective when enacted into law by any two or more of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Thereafter it shall become effective with respect to any other aforementioned state upon its enacting this compact into law. Any state not mentioned in this article which is contiguous to any party state may become a party to this compact by enacting the same.
18 V.S.A. § 901 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 17 / Section 901
§ 901. Purpose, findings, policy
Status: in_force

(a) Purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to promote and provide for a comprehensive and effective emergency medical services system to ensure optimum patient care.

(b) Findings. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Emergency medical services provided by an ambulance service are essential services.

(2) The provision of medical assistance in an emergency is a matter of vital concern affecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

(3) Key elements of an emergency medical services system include:

(A) the provision of prompt, efficient, and effective emergency medical dispatch and emergency medical care;

(B) a well-coordinated trauma care system;

(C) effective communication between prehospital care providers and hospitals; and

(D) the safe handling and transportation, and the treatment and transportation under appropriate medical guidance, of individuals who are sick or injured.

(c) Policy. It is the policy of the State of Vermont that all persons who suffer sudden and unexpected illness or injury should have access to the emergency medical services system in order to prevent loss of life or the aggravation of the illness or injury, and to alleviate suffering.

(1) The system should include competent emergency medical treatment provided by adequately trained, licensed, and equipped personnel acting under appropriate medical control.

(2) Persons involved in the delivery of emergency medical care should be encouraged to maintain and advance their levels of training and licensure, and to upgrade the quality of their vehicles and equipment.
18 V.S.A. § 4655 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 91 / Section 4655
§ 4655. Implementation provisions
Status: in_force

Upon the last to occur of the General Assembly enacting a method of financial support pursuant to section 4654 of this chapter and receipt of certification and approval by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency of Human Services shall begin implementation of the wholesale prescription drug importation program and shall begin operating the program within six months. As part of the implementation process, the Agency of Human Services shall, in accordance with State procurement and contract laws, rules, and procedures as appropriate:

(1) become licensed as a wholesaler or enter into a contract with a Vermont-licensed wholesaler;

(2) contract with one or more Vermont-licensed distributors;

(3) contract with one or more licensed and regulated Canadian suppliers;

(4) engage with health insurance plans, employers, pharmacies, health care providers, and consumers;

(5) develop a registration process for health insurance plans, pharmacies, and prescription drug-administering health care providers who are willing to participate in the program;

(6) create a publicly available source for listing the prices of imported prescription drug products that shall be made available to all participating entities and consumers;

(7) create an outreach and marketing plan to generate program awareness;

(8) starting in the weeks before the program becomes operational, create and staff a hotline to answer questions and address the needs of consumers, employers, health insurance plans, pharmacies, health care providers, and other affected sectors;

(9) establish the audit function and a two-year audit work-plan cycle; and

(10) conduct any other activities that the Agency determines to be important for successful implementation of the program.
18 V.S.A. § 112 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 3 / Section 112
§ 112. Circulars of information
Status: in_force

The Department shall prepare and distribute to local boards of health, physicians, and other persons such printed circulars as it deems necessary and such rules as the Department may adopt and the Commissioner thereof shall give information relative to the cause and prevention of disease and directions as to modes of management, quarantine, and means of prevention of contagious and infectious diseases.
18 V.S.A. § 9102 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 211 / Section 9102
§ 9102. Who may be extradited
Status: in_force

A person alleged to be of unsound mind found in this State, who has fled from another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he or she fled, be delivered up to be removed thereto, if at the time of his or her flight:

(1) He or she was under detention by law in a hospital, asylum, or other institution for the insane as a person of unsound mind; or

(2) He or she had been theretofore determined by legal proceedings to be of unsound mind, the finding being unreversed and in full force and effect, and the control of his or her person having been acquired by a court of competent jurisdiction of the state from which he or she fled; or

(3) He or she was subject to detention in such state, being then his or her legal domicile (personal service of process having been made) based on legal proceedings there pending to have him or her declared of unsound mind.
18 V.S.A. § 3803 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 79 / Section 3803
§ 3803. Appeals
Status: in_force

(a) An entity that audits a pharmacy shall provide the pharmacy with a preliminary audit report, which shall be delivered to the pharmacy or to its corporate office of record within 60 days following completion of the audit.

(b) A pharmacy shall have 30 days following receipt of the preliminary audit report in which to respond to questions, provide additional documentation, and comment on and clarify audit findings. Receipt of the report shall be based on the date postmarked on the envelope or the date of a computer transmission, if transferred electronically.

(c) If an audit results in the dispute or denial of a claim, the entity conducting the audit shall allow the pharmacy to resubmit the claim using any commercially reasonable method, including U.S. mail, facsimile, or electronic claims submission, as long as the period of time during which a claim may be resubmitted has not expired.

(d) Within 120 days after the completion of the appeals process established by this section, a final audit report shall be delivered to the pharmacy or to its corporate office of record. The final audit report shall include a disclosure of any funds recovered by the entity that conducted the audit.

(e) An entity that audits a pharmacy shall have in place a written appeals process by which a pharmacy may appeal the preliminary audit report and the final audit report, and shall provide the pharmacy with notice of the appeals process.

(f) A pharmacy shall be entitled to request a mediator agreed upon by both parties to resolve any disagreements; such request shall not be deemed to waive any existing rights of appeal.
18 V.S.A. § 7252 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 174 / Section 7252
§ 7252. Definitions
Status: repealed

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Adult outpatient services” means flexible services responsive to individuals' preferences, needs, and values that are necessary to stabilize, restore, or improve the level of social functioning and well-being of individuals with a mental condition, including individual and group treatment, medication management, psychosocial rehabilitation, and case management services.

(2) “Designated agency” means a designated community mental health and developmental disability agency as described in subsection 8907(a) of this title.

(3) “Designated area” means the counties, cities, or towns identified by the Department of Mental Health that are served by a designated agency.

(4) “Enhanced programming” means targeted, structured, and specific intensive mental health treatment and psychosocial rehabilitation services for individuals in individualized or group settings.

(5) “Intensive residential recovery facility” means a licensed program under contract with the Department of Mental Health that provides a safe, therapeutic, recovery-oriented residential environment to care for individuals with one or more mental conditions or psychiatric disabilities who need intensive clinical interventions to facilitate recovery in anticipation of returning to the community. This facility shall be for individuals not in need of acute inpatient care and for whom the facility is the least restrictive and most integrated setting.

(6) “Mobile support team” means professional and peer support providers who are able to respond to an individual where he or she is located during a crisis situation.

(7) “Noncategorical case management” means service planning and support activities provided for adults by a qualified mental health provider, regardless of program eligibility criteria or insurance limitations.

(8) “No refusal system” means a system of hospitals and intensive residential recovery facilities under contract with the Department of Mental Health that provides high-intensity services, in which the facilities shall admit any individual for care if the individual meets the eligibility criteria established by the Commissioner in contract.

(9) “Participating hospital” means a hospital under contract with the Department of Mental Health to participate in the no refusal system.

(10), (11) [Repealed.]

(12) “Psychosocial rehabilitation” means a range of social, educational, occupational, behavioral, and cognitive interventions for increasing the role performance and enhancing the recovery of individuals with a serious mental condition or psychiatric disability, including services that foster long-term recovery and self-sufficiency.

(13) “Recovery-oriented” means a system or services that emphasize the process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.

(14) “Serious bodily injury” means the same as in section 1912 of this title.

(15) “Warm line” means a nonemergency telephone response line operated by trained peers for the purpose of active listening and assistance with problem-solving for persons in need of such support.
18 V.S.A. § 9410 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 221 / Section 9410
§ 9410. Health care database
Status: repealed

(a)(1) The Board shall establish and maintain a unified health care database to enable the Board to carry out its duties under this chapter, chapter 220 of this title, and Title 8, including:

(A) determining the capacity and distribution of existing resources;

(B) identifying health care needs and informing health care policy;

(C) evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs on improving patient outcomes;

(D) comparing costs between various treatment settings and approaches;

(E) providing information to consumers and purchasers of health care; and

(F) improving the quality and affordability of patient health care and health care coverage.

(2) [Repealed.]

(b) The database shall contain unique patient and provider identifiers and a uniform coding system and shall reflect all health care utilization, costs, and resources in this State and health care utilization and costs for services provided to Vermont residents in another state.

(c) Health insurers, health care providers, health care facilities, and governmental agencies shall file reports, data, schedules, statistics, or other information determined by the Board to be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. Such information may include:

(1) health insurance claims and enrollment information used by health insurers;

(2) information relating to hospitals filed under subchapter 7 of this chapter (hospital budget reviews); and

(3) any other information relating to health care costs, prices, quality, utilization, or resources required by the Board to be filed.

(d) The Board may by rule establish the types of information to be filed under this section and the time and place and the manner in which such information shall be filed.

(e) [Repealed.]

(f) The Board shall adopt a confidentiality code to ensure that information obtained under this section is handled in an ethical manner.

(g) Any person who knowingly fails to comply with the requirements of this section or rules adopted pursuant to this section shall be subject to an administrative penalty of not more than $1,000.00 per violation. The Board may impose an administrative penalty of not more than $10,000.00 each for those violations the Board finds were willful. In addition, any person who knowingly fails to comply with the confidentiality requirements of this section or confidentiality rules adopted pursuant to this section and uses, sells, or transfers the data or information for commercial advantage, pecuniary gain, personal gain, or malicious harm shall be subject to an administrative penalty of not more than $50,000.00 per violation. The powers vested in the Board by this subsection shall be in addition to any other powers to enforce any penalties, fines, or forfeitures authorized by law.

(h)(1) All health insurers shall electronically provide to the Board in accordance with standards and procedures adopted by the Board by rule:

(A) their health insurance claims data, provided that the Board may exempt from all or a portion of the filing requirements of this subsection data reflecting utilization and costs for services provided in this State to residents of other states;

(B) cross-matched claims data on requested members, subscribers, or policyholders; and

(C) member, subscriber, or policyholder information necessary to determine third-party liability for benefits provided.

(2) The collection, storage, and release of health care data and statistical information that are subject to the federal requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) shall be governed exclusively by the regulations adopted under in 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164.

(3)(A) The Board shall collaborate with the Agency of Human Services and participants in the Agency's initiatives in the development of a comprehensive health care information system. The collaboration is intended to address the formulation of a description of the data sets that will be included in the comprehensive health care information system, the criteria and procedures for the development of limited-use data sets, the criteria and procedures to ensure that HIPAA compliant limited-use data sets are accessible, and a proposed time frame for the creation of a comprehensive health care information system.

(B) To the extent allowed by HIPAA, the data shall be available as a resource for insurers, employers, providers, purchasers of health care, and State agencies to continuously review health care utilization, expenditures, and performance in Vermont. In presenting data for public access, comparative considerations shall be made regarding geography, demographics, general economic factors, and institutional size.

(C) Consistent with the dictates of HIPAA, and subject to such terms and conditions as the Board may prescribe by rule, the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care shall have access to the unified health care database for use in improving the quality of health care services in Vermont. In using the database, the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care shall agree to abide by the rules and procedures established by the Board for access to the data. The Board's rules may limit access to the database to limited-use sets of data as necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(D) Notwithstanding HIPAA or any other provision of law, the comprehensive health care information system shall not publicly disclose any data that contain direct personal identifiers. For the purposes of this section, “direct personal identifiers” include information relating to an individual that contains primary or obvious identifiers, such as the individual's name, street address, e-mail address, telephone number, and Social Security number.

(i) On or before January 15, 2018 and every three years thereafter, the Commissioner of Health shall submit a recommendation to the General Assembly for conducting a survey of the health insurance status of Vermont residents. The provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(d)(expiration of required reports) shall not apply to the report to be made under this subsection.

(j)(1) As used in this section, and without limiting the meaning of subdivision 9402(8) of this title, the term “health insurer” includes:

(A) any entity defined in subdivision 9402(8) of this title;

(B) any third-party administrator, any pharmacy benefit manager, any entity conducting administrative services for business, and any other similar entity with claims data, eligibility data, provider files, and other information relating to health care provided to a Vermont resident, and health care provided by Vermont health care providers and facilities required to be filed by a health insurer under this section;

(C) any health benefit plan offered or administered by or on behalf of the State of Vermont or an agency or instrumentality of the State; and

(D) any health benefit plan offered or administered by or on behalf of the federal government with the agreement of the federal government.

(2) The Board may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this subsection, including criteria for the required filing of such claims data, eligibility data, provider files, and other information as the Board determines to be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section and this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 39 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 1 / Section 39
§ 39. Vermont Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Forgivable Loan Incentive Program
Status: in_force

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Corporation” means the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation established in 16 V.S.A. § 2821.

(2) “Eligible individual” means an individual who satisfies the eligibility requirements under this section for a forgivable loan.

(3) “Eligible school” means an approved postsecondary education institution, as defined under 16 V.S.A. § 2822.

(4) “Forgivable loan” means a loan awarded under this section covering tuition, which may also cover room, board, and the cost of required books and supplies for up to full-time attendance at an eligible school.

(5) “Program” means the Vermont Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Forgivable Loan Incentive Program created under this section.

(b) The Vermont Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Forgivable Loan Incentive Program is created and shall be administered by the Corporation in collaboration with the Department of Health. The Program provides forgivable loans to students enrolled in a master's program at an eligible school who commit to working as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in this State and who meet the eligibility requirements in subsection (d) of this section.

(c) The Corporation shall disburse forgivable loan funds under the Program on behalf of eligible individuals, subject to the appropriation of funds by the General Assembly for this purpose.

(d) To be eligible for a forgivable loan under the Program, an individual, whether a resident or nonresident, shall satisfy all of the following requirements:

(1) be enrolled at an eligible school in a program, whether through in- person or remote instruction, that leads to a master's degree or specialty in psychiatric mental health;

(2) maintain good standing at the eligible school at which the individual is enrolled;

(3) agree to work as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in Vermont for a minimum of one year following licensure for each year of forgivable loan awarded;

(4) have executed a credit agreement or promissory note that will reduce the individual's forgivable loan benefit, in whole or in part, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, if the individual fails to complete the period of service required in subdivision (3) of this subsection;

(5) have completed the Program's application form and such financial aid forms as the Corporation deems necessary, in accordance with a schedule determined by the Corporation; and

(6) have provided such other documentation as the Corporation may require.

(e) If an eligible individual fails to serve as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in this State in compliance with the Program for a period that would entitle the individual to the full forgivable loan benefit received by the individual, other than for good cause as determined by the Corporation in consultation with the Vermont Department of Health, then the individual shall receive only partial loan forgiveness for a pro rata portion of the loan pursuant to the terms of the interest-free reimbursement promissory note signed by the individual at the time of entering the Program.

(f) The Corporation shall adopt policies, procedures, and guidelines necessary to implement the provisions of this section, including maximum forgivable loan amounts.

(g) Forgivable loans shall be awarded on a rolling basis, provided funds are available, and any funds remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall carry forward and shall be available to the Department of Health and the Corporation in the following fiscal year to award additional forgivable loans as set forth in this section.
18 V.S.A. § 201 — VT Code / Title 18 / Chapter 5 / Section 201
§ 201. Cancer control; tumor clinics
Status: in_force

The Commissioner shall establish, organize, and conduct a statewide cancer control program and may organize and conduct tumor clinics or cooperate with and subsidize hospital or locally organized tumor clinics in such parts of the State as the Commissioner may deem most advantageous for the public health. In so far as is practicable, the Commissioner shall conduct a professional and lay educational program in regard to the early diagnosis, care, and cure of cancer.