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VermontS.182025-2026 SessionSenateWALLET

An act relating to licensure of freestanding birth centers

Sponsored By: Martine Larocque L Gulick (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

More midwife coverage and birth center limits

Starting January 1, 2027, any health plan that covers maternity care must also cover midwife services. This includes licensed midwives and certified nurse midwives in hospitals, birth centers, other facilities, or at home. Licensed birth centers cannot give epidurals or perform C-sections starting January 1, 2027. Vermont Medicaid covers prenatal, birth, postpartum, and newborn care at licensed birth centers, with separate payment for the facility and the professionals. Medicaid coverage begins on the later of federal approval or when the state’s birth center rules take effect.

New licensing and oversight for birth centers

Beginning January 1, 2027, you must hold a Vermont Department of Health license to run a birth center. The license is tied to the named site and people and cannot be transferred. Each initial license, renewal, or ownership change filing includes a $250 fee. The Department adopts rules based on national birth center standards and inspects applicants before issuing a license. It can deny, condition, suspend, or revoke a license after at least 60 days’ notice and a hearing, and appeals do not pause orders unless a court stays them. The Department can require corrective action plans and must post short online summaries of violations, while detailed inspection records stay confidential and can be used in license cases. Starting July 1, 2025, centers licensed or proposed under this chapter are excluded from the other referenced subchapter, changing which rules apply.

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Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Martine Larocque L Gulick

    Democratic • Senate

Cosponsors

  • Alison Clarkson

    Democratic • Senate

  • Anne E Watson

    Democrat/Progressive • Senate

  • David H Weeks

    Republican • Senate

  • Rebecca "Becca" E White

    Democratic • Senate

  • Robert Plunkett

    Democratic • Senate

  • Ruth E Hardy

    Democratic • Senate

  • Terry K Williams

    Republican • Senate

  • Wendy K Harrison

    Democratic • Senate

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

Actions Timeline

  1. Senate Message: Signed by Governor May 13, 2025

    5/14/2025House

  2. Signed by Governor on May 13, 2025

    5/14/2025Senate

  3. Delivered to Governor on May 7, 2025

    5/7/2025Senate

  4. Senate Message: House proposal of amendment concurred in

    4/25/2025House

  5. As passed by Senate and House

    4/24/2025Senate

  6. House proposal of amendment concurred in

    4/24/2025Senate

  7. House proposal of amendment; text

    4/24/2025Senate

  8. Unfinished Business/House Proposal of Amendment

    4/24/2025Senate

  9. New Business/House Proposal of Amendment

    4/23/2025Senate

  10. House proposal of amendment

    4/22/2025Senate

  11. Entered on Notice Calendar

    4/22/2025Senate

  12. House message: House passed bill in concurrence with proposal(s) of amendment

    4/18/2025Senate

  13. Read third time and passed in concurrence with proposal of amendment

    4/17/2025House

  14. Action Calendar: Third Reading

    4/17/2025House

  15. Third Reading ordered

    4/16/2025House

  16. Report of Committee on Health Care agreed to

    4/16/2025House

  17. Rep. Yacovone of Morristown recommended for the Committee on Appropriations

    4/16/2025House

  18. Rep. Branagan of Georgia recommended for the Committee on Ways and Means

    4/16/2025House

  19. Rep. Goldman of Rockingham reported for the Committee on Health Care

    4/16/2025House

  20. Read second time

    4/16/2025House

  21. Action Calendar: Favorable with Amendment

    4/16/2025House

  22. Notice Calendar: Favorable with Amendment

    4/15/2025House

  23. Referred to Committee on Appropriations per Rule 35(a)

    4/10/2025House

  24. Notice Calendar: Favorable with Amendment

    4/10/2025House

  25. Referred to Committee on Ways and Means per Rule 35(a)

    4/4/2025House

Bill Text

  • As Enacted (ACT 19)

    5/21/2025

    PDF

  • As Passed by Both Chambers

    5/2/2025

    PDF

  • As Passed by Both Chambers (Unofficial)

    5/2/2025

    PDF

  • House Proposal of Amendment

    4/18/2025

    PDF

  • House Proposal of Amendment (Unofficial)

    4/18/2025

    PDF

  • As Passed by the Senate

    3/28/2025

    PDF

  • As Passed by the Senate (Unofficial)

    3/28/2025

    PDF

  • As Introduced

    1/17/2025

    PDF

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