Signs that the 2007 Vermont legislative session may end within the next few weeks are beginning to appear at the State House. Morning Senate committees ended regular daily sessions last week and all Senate committees are under instruction from President Pro Temp Peter Shumlin to conclude their business by the end of this week.

Also, key spending bills necessary to operate state government for the coming year have passed the House and are under review in the Senate. And, perhaps more significantly, the inevitable end-of-session political maneuvering is in full swing. Shumlin hopes to adjourn by May 5, but most legislators and State House denizens believe mid-May is more realistic for adjournment.

Health care related bills are nearing their final stages as well. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee last week approved the technical amendments to health care reform contained in H.229 and the bill subsequently was referred to the Finance Committee for their review Tuesday afternoon. The committee agreed to define part-time employees as those working 30 hours or less a week for determining an exemption from an employer assessment. The House earlier had defined part-time for this purpose as employees working 25 hours or less.

The committee also continued its hearings on H.531 last week, agreeing to three amendments to the bill that creates a roadmap for implementation of the Blueprint for Health and chronic care initiatives, provider payment reform, and pilot projects around those initiatives. The Committee agreed to modify provider payment methodologies used for Catamount Health, came to consensus on language around provider bargaining groups and the state employee health plan, and agreed on a high level administrative official in state government to oversee the Blueprint.

The committee will consider additional amendments Tuesday before voting on the bill. Those amendments focus on expansions of Catamount to include traditional individuals, small groups of three or fewer employees, farmers etc.  It appears unlikely this committee will recommend expansion due to the cost and because Catamount expansion is a major task on the agenda for the Legislative Commission on Health Care Reform between sessions.

The Senate Health and Welfare and House Health Care Committees will hold a public hearing on April 24, 2007 at the State House. The hearing will begin at 6:30PM and is intended to inform the legislature with ideas from the public on how to expand the state’s health care reform efforts.

The House Health Care Committee, meanwhile, gave its approval to S.39, a bill requiring health insurers to consider naturopaths as primary care providers and reimburse them for their services. The committee amended the bill so that an insurer may require that the naturopath be under contract with an insurer or otherwise be covered consistent with out-of-network provider reimbursement practices for primary care providers. The committee also omitted a Senate amendment that required health plans to cover PSA screening. Insurers told the committee they already covered the screening.

The House committee also is devoting a significant amount of time to S.115, a bill that imposes restrictions on pharmaceutical manufacturer marketing practices, data gathering around prescription drug usage and prescribing patterns, and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices. The controversial bill has attracted a legion of lobbyists as well as concern that overregulation might discourage some of these organizations from doing business in Vermont.

Finally, the Legislative Commission on Health Care Reform also met last week and heard updates from administration officials responsible for implementing Catamount Health and other health care reforms laid out in last year’s reform legislation.

For more information on legislative proposals, visit the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont website at www.bcbsvt.com or call Leigh Tofferi at (802) 223-6131 or Kathy Parry at (802) 371-3205. If you wish to discontinue receiving these updates or know of anyone else who would like to receive it, please call Kathy Parry or send an e-mail to parryk@bcbsvt.com