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Vermont hospitals implement new rules for accessing free medical care
https://vtdigger.org/2024/07/02/vermont-hospitals-implement-new-rules-for-accessing-free-medical-care/Vermont hospitals implement new rules for accessing free medical care
A 2022 law aimed at freeing more Vermonters from medical debt went into effect Monday.
By Peter D'Auria
July 2, 2024, 4:38 pm
More Vermonters should have access to free or discounted health care at hospitals and other large health care facilities under a law that went into effect Monday.
[...]
In 2022, lawmakers passed Act 119, which sets out minimum requirements for hospitals offering charity care. The ultimate goal is to help more Vermonters access free medical care, Mike Fisher, Vermont’s chief health care advocate, said in an interview.
“It creates a statewide minimum standard,” Fisher, who worked with Vermont hospitals to draft the bill, said in an interview. “Before this, we saw hospitals doing all kinds of things that didn’t make sense about how they were determining eligibility. But hospitals can be more generous than the law calls for.”
[...]
Under the new requirements, Vermont residents with incomes of up to 250% of the federal poverty level — which works out to $78,000 a year for a family of four — will have access to completely free medical care at Vermont hospitals. (People with health insurance who meet those income requirements will face no out-of-pocket costs for their care.)
[...]
A 2022 law aimed at freeing more Vermonters from medical debt went into effect Monday.
By Peter D'Auria
July 2, 2024, 4:38 pm
More Vermonters should have access to free or discounted health care at hospitals and other large health care facilities under a law that went into effect Monday.
[...]
In 2022, lawmakers passed Act 119, which sets out minimum requirements for hospitals offering charity care. The ultimate goal is to help more Vermonters access free medical care, Mike Fisher, Vermont’s chief health care advocate, said in an interview.
“It creates a statewide minimum standard,” Fisher, who worked with Vermont hospitals to draft the bill, said in an interview. “Before this, we saw hospitals doing all kinds of things that didn’t make sense about how they were determining eligibility. But hospitals can be more generous than the law calls for.”
[...]
Under the new requirements, Vermont residents with incomes of up to 250% of the federal poverty level — which works out to $78,000 a year for a family of four — will have access to completely free medical care at Vermont hospitals. (People with health insurance who meet those income requirements will face no out-of-pocket costs for their care.)
[...]