Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 18 Sec. 253

  • Department: means the Department of Health. See
  • gender identity: means an individual's actual or perceived gender identity, or gender-related characteristics intrinsically related to an individual's gender or gender-identity, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth. See
  • Health equity: means all people have a fair and just opportunity to be healthy, especially those who have experienced socioeconomic disadvantage, historical injustice, and other avoidable systemic inequalities that are often associated with the social categories of race, gender, ethnicity, social position, sexual orientation, and disability. See
  • Health equity data: means demographic data, including, race, ethnicity, primary language, age, gender, socioeconomic position, sexual orientation, disability, homelessness, or geographic data that can be used to track health equity. See
  • sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. See
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See

§ 253. Data responsive to health equity inquiries

(a) Each State agency, department, board, or commission that collects health-related, individual data shall include in its data collection health equity data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, primary language, socioeconomic status, disability, and sexual orientation. Data related to race and ethnicity shall use separate collection categories and tabulations, disaggregated beyond non-White and White, in accordance with the recommendation made by the Executive Director of Racial Equity, in consultation with the Advisory Commission.

(b)(1) The Department of Health shall systematically analyze such health equity data using the smallest appropriate units of analysis feasible to detect racial and ethnic disparities, as well as disparities along the lines of primary language, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socioeconomic status, and report the results of such analysis on the Department’s website periodically, but not less than biannually. The Department’s analysis shall be used to measure over time the impact of actions taken to reduce health disparities in Vermont. The data informing the Department’s analysis shall be made available to the public in accordance with State and federal law.

(2) Annually, on or before January 15, the Department shall submit a report containing the results of the analysis conducted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare and to the House Committees on Health Care and on Human Services. (Added 2021, No. 33, § 3.)