Protect Health Care Freedom in Vermont
A hidden provision in H.585 could redefine faith-based health care and trigger costly legal consequences for the state.
Protect Your Right to Choose: Call Your Senators Today!
Rep. Randy Hultgren has been a member of a health care sharing ministry for over 12 years. Listen to his testimony before the House Health Committee on March 9, 2026, about his experiences and why HCSMs should NOT be considered as insurance.
What’s In the Bill?
Section 10 of H.585 started as an unpopular bill, H. 102, that failed to move out of the House Health Committee in 2025. Rather than let it rise or fall on its own merits, it was quietly and quickly added to a must-pass healthcare omnibus bill this session. Despite efforts to downplay its insertion, the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries and its allies sprang into action to have the section removed entirely.
Why this Matters to Vermonters
To add insult to injury, key members of the House leadership were (and remain) willing to remove a health care alternative for you and other Vermonters; they are also willing to saddle all taxpayers with years-long costly litigation.
You see, the House Health Chair readily admitted on April 8, 2026, during a Senate Finance review of the omnibus bill, that Section 10 is “word-for-word” the same as the Colorado law now being challenged at the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Rather than wait and allow the litigation process to play out, activists are willing to have Vermont become an immediate addition to the ongoing Colorado legal challenge.
Are you okay with your hard-earned tax dollars being used so unwisely?
Here are three main reasons Senators need to remove Section 10 from H. 585:
1. Targets Ministries Without Need
The proposed legislation was introduced without documented consumer complaints or demonstrated regulatory gaps.
Existing oversight already includes:
- IRS nonprofit regulation
- State attorney general authority
- Consumer protection laws
- Independent accreditation boards
2. Constitutional Concerns
Like Colorado’s law, which is being litigated at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Section 10 of Vermont’s H. 585 tries to force health care sharing ministries into the mold of an insurance entity, the very thing they are not intended to be.
This also raises constitutional issues tied to:
- Establishment Clause
- Free Exercise Clause
- Free Speech
- Freedom of Association
3. Creates Real Cost Risk for Vermont
In addition to driving health care sharing ministries from Vermont, thereby reducing choices for all Vermonters, the Vermont legislation would be enjoined immediately to the Colorado lawsuit at the Tenth Circuit.
Defending its law has required Colorado to spend thousands of taxpayers’ funds on:
- Countless state attorneys over multiple years
- Numerous expert witnesses
- Extensive document production
Vermont will likely face similar costs, with only a fraction of the population to bear this financial burden. Not a prudent use of your money.
Call the Senate Switchboard Today!
When you call, please politely ask Senators to remove Section 10 in H. 585 in its entirety. You can cite the three main reasons above or use your own words.
Senate Committee on Finance
Sen. Ann Cummings
Learn More
If you would like to learn more about HCSMs, visit the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries homepage. To learn about the accreditation process, visit the Health Care Sharing Accreditation Board’s new website.