The House gave preliminary approval Monday to the hospital affiliation bill that seeks to notify patients that their out-of-pocket costs may go up if a hospital system buys their independent doctor’s office.
The House OK’d S.245 in a unanimous voice vote. The bill could pass as early as Tuesday. The Senate would either need to accept the House’s changes to the version it passed March 24 or call for a committee of conference to negotiate a deal.
The House’s version is shorter than the Senate’s and does not include language that would prohibit Vermont’s Medicaid program from increasing how much it pays doctors’ offices once they are acquired by hospitals or hospital systems.
Both versions of the bill would require the Green Mountain Care Board to “maintain a policy” for reviewing hospital acquisitions of doctors’ offices and require the board to make sure hospitals send notification letters to patients.
The House bill requires hospitals to report acquisitions to the attorney general’s office at least 90 days before an acquisition, or “as soon as practicable prior to the effective date of the transactions.”
The House bill also requires the board to provide reports to lawmakers by July 15 and Dec. 1 on how regulators are implementing plans to pay academic medical centers and other hospitals and doctors’ offices more fairly.
