Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 9481 (2026)

Subchapter 010 : PATIENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND MEDICAL DEBT

• § 9481. Definitions

  As used in this subchapter:

  (1) “Amount generally billed” means the amount a large health care facility generally bills to individuals for emergency or other medically necessary health care services, determined using the “look-back method” set forth in 26 C.F.R. § 1.501(r)-5(b)(3).

  (2) “Credit reporting agency” means a person who, for fees, dues, or on a cooperative basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating information concerning a consumer’s credit or other information for the purpose of furnishing a credit report to another person.

  (3) “Health care provider” means a person, partnership, corporation, facility, or institution licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide professional health care services in this State to an individual during that individual’s medical care, treatment, or confinement.

  (4) “Health care services” means services for the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, cure, or relief of a physical, dental, behavioral, or mental health condition or substance use disorder, including procedures, products, devices, and medications.

  (5) “Household income” means income calculated in accordance with the financial methodologies for determining financial eligibility for advance premium tax credits under 26 C.F.R. § 1.36B-2, including the method used to calculate household size, with the following modifications:

  (A) domestic partners, and any individual who is considered a dependent of either partner for federal income tax purposes, shall be treated as members of the same household;

  (B) married individuals who file federal income tax returns separately but could file jointly, and any individual who is considered a dependent of one or both spouses for federal income tax purposes, shall be treated as members of the same household;

  (C) married individuals who are living separately while their divorce is pending shall not be treated as members of the same household, regardless of whether they are filing federal income tax returns jointly or separately; and

  (D) household income for individuals who are not required to file a federal income tax return, and for undocumented immigrants who have not filed a federal income tax return, shall be calculated as if they had filed a federal income tax return.

  (6) “Large health care facility” means each of the following health care providers:

  (A) a hospital licensed pursuant to chapter 43 of this title;

  (B) an outpatient clinic or facility affiliated with or operating under the license of a hospital licensed pursuant to chapter 43 of this title; and

  (C) an ambulatory surgical center licensed pursuant to chapter 49 of this title.

  (7) “Medical creditor” means a large health care facility to whom a consumer owes money for health care services.

  (8) “Medical debt” means a debt arising from the receipt of health care services.

  (9) “Medical debt collector” means an individual or entity that regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, medical debts originally owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due, to another individual or entity.

  (10) “Medically necessary health care services” means health care services, including diagnostic testing, preventive services, and after care, that are appropriate to the patient’s diagnosis or condition in terms of type, amount, frequency, level, setting, and duration. Medically necessary care must:

  (A) be informed by generally accepted medical or scientific evidence and be consistent with generally accepted practice parameters as recognized by health care professions in the same specialties as typically provide the procedure or treatment, or diagnose or manage the medical condition;

  (B) be informed by the unique needs of each individual patient and each presenting situation; and

  (C) meet one or more of the following criteria:

  (i) help restore or maintain the patient’s health;

  (ii) prevent deterioration of or palliate the patient’s condition; or

  (iii) prevent the reasonably likely onset of a health problem or detect an incipient problem.

  (11) “Patient” means the individual who receives or received health care services and shall include a parent if the patient is a minor or a legal guardian if the patient is a minor or adult under guardianship.

  (12) “Vermont resident” means an individual, regardless of citizenship and including undocumented immigrants, who resides in Vermont, is employed by a Vermont employer to deliver services for the employer in this State in the normal course of the employee’s employment, or attends school in Vermont, or a combination of these. The term includes an individual who is living in Vermont at the time that services are received but who lacks stable permanent housing. (Added 2021, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.)