Vermont § 9445 - Enforcement

§ 9445. Enforcement

• (a) Any person who offers or develops any new health care project within the meaning of
  this subchapter without first obtaining a certificate of need as required by this
  subchapter, or who otherwise violates any of the provisions of this subchapter or
  any rule adopted or order issued pursuant to this subchapter, may be subject to one
  or both of the following administrative sanctions by the Board, after notice and an
  opportunity to be heard: (1) The Board may order that no license or certificate permitted to be issued by any State
  agency may be issued to any health care facility to operate, offer, or develop any
  new health care project for a specified period of time, or that remedial conditions
  be attached to the issuance of such licenses or certificates. (2) The Board may order that payments or reimbursements to the entity for claims made
  under any health insurance policy, subscriber contract, or health benefit plan offered
  or administered by any public or private health insurer, including the Medicaid program
  and any other health benefit program administered by the State be denied, reduced,
  or limited, and in the case of a hospital that the hospital’s annual budget approved
  under subchapter 7 of this chapter be adjusted, modified, or reduced. (b) In addition to all other sanctions, if any person offers or develops any new health
  care project without first having been issued a certificate of need or certificate
  of exemption for the project, or violates any other provision of this subchapter or
  any rule adopted or order issued pursuant to this subchapter, the Board, the Office
  of the Health Care Advocate, the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and health care providers
  and consumers located in the State shall have standing to maintain a civil action
  in the Superior Court of the county in which such alleged violation has occurred,
  or in which such person may be found, to enjoin, restrain, or prevent such violation.
  Upon written request by the Board, it shall be the duty of the Vermont Attorney General
  to furnish appropriate legal services and to prosecute an action for injunctive relief
  to an appropriate conclusion, which shall not be reimbursed under subdivision (a)(2)
  of this section. (c)(1) After notice and an opportunity for hearing, the Board may impose on a person who
  violates a provision of this subchapter or a rule adopted or order issued pursuant
  to this subchapter, one or more of the following: (A) a civil administrative penalty of not more than $75,000.00, or in the case of a continuing
  violation, a civil administrative penalty of not more than $200,000.00 or one-tenth
  of one percent of the gross annual revenues of the health care facility, whichever
  is greater, which shall not be reimbursed under subdivision (a)(2) of this section; (B) an order that the person cease and desist from further violations; and (C) any such other actions necessary to remediate a violation. (2) A person aggrieved by a decision of the Board under this subchapter may appeal under
  section 9381 of this title. (d) The Board shall adopt by rule criteria for assessing the circumstances in which a
  violation of a provision of this subchapter, a rule adopted pursuant to this subchapter,
  or the terms or conditions of a certificate of need require that a penalty under this
  section shall be imposed, and criteria for assessing the circumstances in which a
  penalty under this section may be imposed. (Added 1979, No. 65, § 1; amended 1991, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 36, eff. May 11, 1992; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38(a); 2003, No. 53, § 19; 2007, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 5c, 7; 2011, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 21a, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; 2013, No. 79, § 35f, eff. Jan. 1, 2014; 2015, No. 54, § 41; 2017, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 6.)