A new state health care law will require the administration to report on whether Vermont should prohibit insurers from paying independent physician practices less than hospitals for the same services. Lawmakers framed the need for the report as a discussion of whether Vermont should protect its private physician practices or encourage the current trend toward hospital employment. The number of full-time physician equivalents employed by Vermont's hospitals grew 22 percent between 2007 and 2012, from 947 to 1,207, according to figures from the Green Mountain Care Board. That's a good thing according to the CEOs of the two largest hospital networks serving the region.
