The chairs of the House Appropriations and Health Care committees have written legislation that would allocate $400,000 for an independent review of Vermont Health Connect.
Reps. Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, and Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, are planning to offer an amendment on the floor of the House to require the Joint Fiscal Office to facilitate a review of the embattled health exchange.
The two are proposing that the amendment be tacked onto a bill related to workforce housing. That bill, H.865, could come up for debate as early as Wednesday.
About $224,000 of the $400,000 for the study would come from the Green Mountain Care Board and the treasurer’s office. The remaining $176,000 would come from the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
Among other things, the study would need to recommend whether Vermont should keep investing in Vermont Health Connect or move to a partly or fully federal-based exchange. The study would be due Dec. 1.
Johnson said her committee recommended the Vermont Health Connect study in its original budget, at the request of the House Health Care Committee, but did not allocate any money for it.
She said even though the Appropriations Committee defunded the study, the panel worked to find the money later, and was successful.
