The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
001
:
ADVANCE DIRECTIVES AND DISPOSITION OF REMAINS
(Cite as: 18 V.S.A. § 9710)
-
§ 9710. Consent for hospice care
(a) A family member of a patient or a person with a known close relationship to the patient
may elect hospice care on behalf of the patient if the patient does not have an agent
or guardian or the patient’s agent or guardian, or both, if applicable, are unavailable.
Decisions made by the family member or person with a known close relationship shall
protect the patient’s own wishes in the same manner as decisions made by an agent
as described in subsection 9711(d) of this title.
(b) As used in this section, “hospice care” means a program of care and support provided
by a Medicare-certified hospice provider to help an individual with a terminal condition
to live comfortably by providing palliative care, including effective pain and symptom
management. Hospice care may include services provided by an interdisciplinary team
that are intended to address the physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual
needs of the individual and his or her family. (Added 2013, No. 127 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 10, 2014.)