By Michael Bielawski

The Vermont House Healthcare Committee heard about 18 bills last Friday February 21, including two concerning healthcare rights and vaccines and another for a universal primary care program. Two others include expanding health insurance coverage for physical therapy and increasing the transparency of prescription drug costs.

Each bill was given about 5-10 minutes per presenter in the marathon committee session. To see all 18 bills, look at their Feb. 21 (Friday) agenda.

Two vaccines bills

The bill H. 61 which was in similar versions introduced in the past is back again and would leave medical decisions including decisions regarding vaccines solely to the individual patient. Just as in years past, the sponsor is Rep. Mark Higley, R-Lowell.

Higley said, “Again, the bill proposes to recognize and prohibit any interference with an individual’s right to bodily autonomy, to make the individual’s own health care decisions, and to be free to accept or refuse any health or medical intervention, testing, treatment, or vaccines based on the individual’s own religious, conscientious, and personal beliefs.”

One new section absent from the past iterations deals with parents’ rights.

“The new section is Section C talking about nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with the right of a parent to make decisions that the parent determines to be in the best interest of the parent’s minor child or children,” Higley said.

This time there are seven co-sponsors of the bill, all Republicans.

Related to healthcare rights is another bill, H. 274 which is to require that “a hospital patient’s right not to be denied care based on vaccination status.” The bill has 12 additional sponsors again all Republicans.

Universal Primary Care

Another bill is H. 185, which is “An act relating to developing and implementing a universal primary care program.” Rep. Herb Olson, D-Starksboro, is the lead sponsor. There are 14 sponsors in all including one Republican.

Part of his argument is that this would make physicians’ work easier. Olson said to the committee, “Reducing administrative barriers, I think, will help primary care practitioners have a better work environment because that’s really key. A lot of the primary care practitioners are getting long in the years like I am and you know, or might be leaving a little early.”

The bill’s text alleges that Vermonters aren’t getting easy enough access to these doctors. It states, “Vermont’s health care system currently does not provide

access to primary care with the timeliness and scope that Vermonters need.”

It says some of the challenges that physicians face with the current system including they face “significant administrative burdens imposed by health networks and by both public and private insurance plans.” It also says they are “not compensated commensurate with their value to the health care system.”

The bill continues that good doctors are leaving the state and it’s difficult to replace them.

Insurance for physical therapy

There is another bill H. 271 that would increase the amount of support for physical therapy services. Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln, is the sponsor. Another sponsor is Rep. Emilie Krasnow, D-South Burlington.

The bill “proposes to prohibit health insurance plans and Vermont Medicaid from requiring a clinician’s referral or a signed care plan in order to provide coverage of or reimbursement for physical therapy services.”

It would prohibit health insurance plans from requiring any copayment or coinsurance requirement for services from a physical therapist that “exceeds the copayment or coinsurance requirement that would apply if the covered individual received services from a primary care provider for the same or a similar health condition.”

It would also increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for physical therapy services by 10% over the next two years.

Transparency of drug costs

Another bill is H. 202 which is “An act relating to increasing the transparency of prescription drug costs and spending.” Cordes again is the lead sponsor, there are currently no co-cosponsors.

The bill would “prohibit a pharmacy benefit manager from requiring a person covered by a health insurance plan to pay more for a prescription drug than the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost of the drug plus a professional dispensing fee.”

It would require that hospitals report to the Green Mountain Care Board on their usage of the 340B federal drug pricing program. It would mandate that health insurers inform patients annually of how much their plans spent on prescription drugs for the patient for the prior year.

Also on the national scene, an executive order from the White House similarly deals with price transparency and drugs.

The order requires that federal agencies “ensure hospitals and insurers disclose actual prices, not estimates, and take action to make prices comparable across hospitals and insurers, including prescription drug prices.”

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle