Source: http://sourceonhealthcare.org/legislation-regulation/vermont/
Timestamp: 2017-06-24 03:40:41
Document Index: 202450719

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1801', '§ 1821', '§ 9410', '§ 9418', '§ 9434', '§ 9371', '§ 9351', '§ 9376', '§ 4062', '§ 9375', '§ 9456', '§ 702', '§ 4721']

Vermont - The Source on HealthCare Price and Competition The Source on HealthCare Price and Competition
The Source on HealthCare Price and Competition	A project of UC Hastings College of the Law
Articles &Reports
Vermont	SUMMARY
Vermont has been active in cost containment and transparency through a number of state planning initiatives, rate and premium control, and the VHCURES all-payer claims database. Vermont also attempted to be the first state to operate a single-payer healthcare system, however, the state gave up on the plan in 2014. This legislative term, Vermont has proposed legislation to create a public a public option as well as legislation to increase transparency and consumer awareness of prescription drug prices.
Legislative Calendar Vermont’s current regular legislative session runs from 1/4/2017 – 5/8/2017. Legislation from the 2017 will carry over through 2018.
Proposes to require pharmacy benefit manages to provide explanations of benefits for prescription drug claims. It would also direct the Dept. of Financial Regulation to amend its rules to require Exchange plans to post online the range of actual coinsurance amounts for each prescription drug on their plan formularies based on the lowest and highest process currently available at pharmacies in Vermont.
Inactive – Died.
ALL PAYER MODEL: requires the Secretary of Administration or designee and the Green Mountain Care Board to jointly explore an all-payer model. The Secretary or designee and the Board are required to consider a model that includes payment for a broad array of health services, including: payment for a broad array of health services, a model applicable to hospitals only, and a model that enables the state to establish global hospital budgets for each hospital licensed in Vermont.
Passed – Signed by he Governor on 6/5/15.
H0077/S0113
HEALTH CARE QUALITY AND PRICE COMPARISON DATABASE: would require the Green Mountain Care Board to create an online database through which consumers could compare the cost and quality of health care services in the state.
H0077 would also require pharmacies to post in their store and online, the price charged to a consumer who does not have prescription drug coverage, for the 20 most commonly prescribed medications dispensed at that pharmacy, as well as the average price for each of those prescriptions.
PATIENT SERVICE PRICE DISCLOSURE: would require health care providers, except in an emergency, to disclose to a patient or other health care consumer the cost of a health care services prior to the patient or consumer incurring any charges. The patient or consumer would be required to sign a written acknowledgement of the cost disclosure.
H1097 would also require hospital bills to list each service provided in language commonly understood by patients.
This bill proposes to delay for once a year a requirement that the Dept. of Vermont Health Access apply for a federal waiver that would seek to ensure the continued availability of bronze-level Exchange plans that meet Vermont’s out-of-pocket prescription drug limit. This bill would also direct an advisory group developing options for bronze-level Exchange plans to report on potential changes to a statute or rule that would ensure the continued availability of these plans.
This bill proposes to create a public option for health care coverage that would be available to all Vermont residents and employers and would be publicly funded. It would remove health insurance benefits from the bargainable subjects for public employees who are subject to a collective bargaining agreement and instead specify that employees who wish to have health insurance coverage would be covered under the public option.
Proposes that a health insurance company, hospital or medical service corporation, or health maintenance organization use a community rating method for determining premiums for Medicare supplemental insurance policies. A health insurance company, hospital or medical service corporation, or health maintenance organization that issues Medicare supplemental insurance policies may offer expense discounts to encourage timely, full payment of premiums.A health insurance company, hospital or medical service corporation, or health maintenance organization that issues Medicare supplemental insurance policies shall not offer reduced premiums or other discounts related to a person’s age, gender, marital status, or other demographic criteria.
Active – Bill recommitted to the Committee on
Health Care- 5/18/17.
33 V.S.A. §§ 1801-1812 establishes the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange under the Affordable Care Act with the purpose of ultimately obtaining a federal waiver to use the Exchange as a mechanism to create the Green Mountain Care single-payer system.
33 V.S.A. §§ 1821-1832 sets out the provisions for Vermont’s Green Mountain Care (GMC) system, a publicly financed single-payer health care system that provides universal coverage to all residents of Vermont. Vermont aims to obtain a waiver under federal law to obtain federal fund contribution in lieu of federal premium tax credits, cost-sharing subsidies, and small business tax credits under the ACA. GMC will not become active until a federal waiver is obtained and sustainable financing has been determined for the system.
18 V.S.A. § 9410 creates the Vermont Health Care Uniform Reporting and Evaluation System (VHCURES), Vermont’s all-payer claims database (APCD). An APCD is a database for aggregating health care claims data from payer sources in order to compare costs among physicians and health care systems.
18 V.S.A. 9405 requires the state agencies to adopt a State Health Plan and Health Resource Allocation Plan in order to coordinate health care services, programs, facilities, and resources.
18 V.S.A. 9405b requires the Commissioner of Health in the Department of Financial Regulation to publish an annual Hospital Report Card based on information about quality, financial health, costs for services, and other hospital characteristics.
18 V.S.A. 9414a requires that health insurers on the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange issue an annual report to the Commissioner of Financial Regulation containing information about the health insurers operations, including claims data, salary data, marketing and advertising expenses, lobbying expenses, political contributions, legal expenses, and charitable contribution data.
18 V.S.A. § 9418e prohibits any contracting entity from offering, amending, or entering into a contract with a provider, hospital, or pharmacy that includes a most favored nation clause. A most favored nations clause is an agreement between a payer (such as an insurance company) and a provider that typically requires a provider to give the payer the lowest rate that it gave to any other comparable payer, which can be anticompetitive by encouraging oligopolistic pricing by large payers and increasing barriers for new entrants.
18 V.S.A. § 9434 requires certain healthcare providers and facilities to obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) before building certain types of facilities or offering new or expanded services. A Certificate of Need is obtained subject to a regulatory review that ensures that there is a genuine need in the community for new or expanded services to promote cost containment and unnecessary duplication of services. Vermont requires that a CON applicant must show that their application for new or expanded services is consistent with the Health Resource Allocation Plan, a state-wide planning document geared towards establishing health delivery priorities.
18 V.S.A. §§ 9371-9381 establishes the Green Mountain Care Board with the goal of providing universal coverage for all Vermonters while maintaining the ethos of transparency, cost containment, and fairness. The Green Mountain Care Board is charged with a number of health care reform and cost containment duties:
18 V.S.A. § 9351 – reviewing the statewide Health Information Technology Plan (aimed at reducing the cost of delivering quality health care through technological advancement);
18 V.S.A. § 9376 – setting reimbursement rates for health care providers;
8 V.S.A. § 4062 – approving insurance rates and premiums (see Vermont Rate Review website);
18 § 9375a – developing a unified health care budget to serve as a guideline within which health care costs are controlled and resources are allocated, including an annual report on projected health care expenditures on behalf of Vermont residents;
18 V.S.A. § 9456 – reviewing and approving hospital budgets (see Hospital Budget Review website); and
recommending the benefit plan for and monitoring the unimplemented Green Mountain Care single-payer system.
18 V.S.A. §§ 702-709 creates the Vermont Blueprint for Health initiative, defined as a “program for integrating a system of health care for patients, improving the health of the overall population, and improving control over health care costs by promoting health maintenance, prevention, and care coordination and management.” The Blueprint for Health provides clinical quality and performance measures as well as guidelines to establish patient-centered medical homes, community health teams, and accountable care organizations. Under the Green Mountain Care single-payer system, it is the intent of the legislature that within 5 years after the system is implemented, an individual enrolled in GMC will have a primary health professional who is involved with the Blueprint for Health.
8 V.S.A. §§ 4721-4726 prohibits unfair methods of competitive and unfair or deceptive acts in the provision of insurance.
On January 17, 2017 the commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation announced that MVP Health Insurance Company has paid the state of Vermont $70, 500 in administrative penalties and $158, 915 as reimbursement to Vermont residents for consistent overcharging for colorectal screenings.
KEY RESOURCES Vermont General Assembly
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