Bill H.320 aims to stabilize Vermont's rural hospitals and enhance healthcare access by implementing a moratorium on specific recommendations from a consultants report until July 1, 2026. The Green Mountain Care Board is prohibited from pursuing recommendations that would limit commercial subsidization for hospital financial shortfalls, restrict licensing for hospital-based outpatient departments, initiate reference-based pricing, or mandate uniform accounting practices among hospitals. Instead, the Board is directed to simplify the certificate of need process and promote freestanding diagnostic and surgical centers. Additionally, the Board will collect data from hospitals to establish goals for hospital system transformation and report these findings by March 1, 2026.

The bill also includes provisions for expanding health insurance options in Vermont. The Department of Vermont Health Access, in collaboration with the Department of Financial Regulation, is tasked with exploring opportunities to increase the number of health insurers on the Vermont Health Benefit Exchange and must report its findings by January 15, 2026. Furthermore, the Area Health Education Centers program is required to develop a plan for placing medical students in rural hospitals and to consider using state scholarship programs to encourage careers in rural medicine. Lastly, the Green Mountain Care Board will work with relevant departments to create recommendations for compensating hospitals for the costs associated with patients awaiting transfer, with a report due by December 1, 2025.