Updated 4:50 p.m.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation into a Vermont law that requires health insurance companies in the state to cover abortions.
Representatives from the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation confirmed that they received a letter from the federal government Wednesday evening informing them that the department has 20 days to respond.
Vermont is one of 13 states President Trump’s administration is investigating.
The Vermont law that Health and Human Services cites in its letter to the state requires that health insurers provide coverage for abortions and abortion-related care. The letter does not single out or address Vermont’s suite of related abortion shield laws or the state’s constitutionally enshrined right to personal reproductive autonomy, known as the “Reproductive Liberty Amendment.”
“We stand firmly behind the law in question and the protections and choice it provides Vermonters,” Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Kaj Samsom wrote in an emailed statement to VTDigger Thursday.
He said that his department is reviewing the notice and working with other state agencies to prepare a response
“DFR does not believe that it has unlawfully coerced or discriminated against any insurer related to the coverage of abortions as outlined in the (federal government’s) request,” he added.
In their letter, federal officials cited a change in their interpretation of a part of federal law called the Weldon Amendment. It prohibits Health and Human Services from giving federal funds to entities that prevent health care providers or insurers from choosing whether to administer or pay for abortions.
In a 2021 letter, the federal government under President Joe Biden established a new interpretation of that part of federal law, allowing employers and plan sponsors to define abortion coverage as an essential part of health care they cannot refuse to a patient or client. Coincidentally, the letter that established the precedent concerned a case at University of Vermont Medical Center, where a Catholic nurse objected to providing an abortion.
In January, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services Department rejected this guidance, reverting to an earlier understanding of the amendment. This week, the letter informed states “that they should no longer rely on the now-repudiated legal position.”
An HHS official told reporters in a Wednesday press call that the office was concerned about thousands of people and employers who object to abortion and prefer to opt into or offer a health insurance plan that does not cover abortion care.
The letter asks the state to provide information about how it enforces the law and where there may be exemptions from it.
The HHS official told reporters that if the Department of Health and Human Services identifies concerns with its interpretation of the amendment, the office will first try to resolve the matter through informal means before resorting to existing enforcement mechanisms to achieve compliance by withholding funding or referring the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The official added that HHS cannot speculate, in the absence of concrete examples, about what state or insurer compliance would look like.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark told VTDigger in a statement that “Vermonters have a constitutional right to abortion access, and my office will take whatever actions are necessary to defend this right. We have been in touch with DFR and will support them as needed.”
Kristina Massari, a spokesperson for BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, wrote in an email Thursday that the health insurer opted to cover abortion care “well before” state law required it in 2023.
“We do not anticipate any changes to coverage as a result of this investigation,” she added.
A number of states have outright bans on insurers covering abortion care. In the absence of a ban, an employer and insurer may choose whether to offer coverage for abortion.
This story has been updated to revise the attribution of a quote.
