MONTPELIER – Rep. Michael Fisher was named the new chairman of the House Health Care Committee on Thursday, putting him in position to play a lead role as the lawmakers and the governor continues their effort to establish a universal health care system.
House Speaker Shap Smith appointed Fisher because the chairman of the committee, Rep. Mark Larson, resigned from the Legislature in August to become commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access.
Fisher, a Democrat who represents Bristol, Lincoln, Monkton and Starksboro, has served in the Legislature since 2001 and was vice chairman of the House Health Care Committee in the most recent session when lawmakers and Gov. Peter Shumlin passed a landmark health care reform bill.
Rep. Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, a Democrat from Bradford, will become the committee's vice chair.
Fisher, a social worker in Addison County, said he is excited to advance the state's health care reform effort.
“Reducing health care costs and improving access to quality care is vital to the health and economic well-being of the state, and I am confident in the ability of the committee to dig into that work,” he said in a news release.
- Thatcher Moats
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