Legislature endorses mandatory health insurance [View all]

After months of deliberations, state lawmakers on Saturday decided that all Vermonters should have to buy health insurance as of Jan. 1, 2020.

The House and Senate each agreed to a compromise version of H.696, which establishes a state “individual mandate” for health insurance in response to pending changes at the federal level.

It’s not yet clear how the state’s mandate will be enforced: Figuring that out will be the job of a working group that will make recommendations for legislative consideration in 2019.

But supporters say it’s important to keep the number of insured residents as high as possible in order to avoid big premium increases.

Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2018/05/12/legislature-endorses-mandatory-health-insurance/