VT-Vermont panel picked to nominate health board

Governor Peter Shumlin and legislative leaders have named the nine-member nominating committee charged with vetting candidates for the Green Mountain Care Board. The Green Mountain Care Board will design and administer components of the state's health care reform plan. The board member include:

• Elizabeth Bankowski, chaired the governor's transition
• Dr. Deborah Richter, a family physician and advocate for health reform
• Thomas Torti, president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Kevin Kelley, chief executive officer of a federally qualified health center in Lamoille County with more than 14,000 patients
• Rep. Mark Larson, D-Burlington, chairman of the House Committee on Health Care, which wrote the health reform bill
• Vicki Strong, R-Albany, a member of the House Committee on Health Care who voted against the health reform bill
• Dr. Louis Kazal Jr., associate professor of community and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School
• Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison, chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which helped write the health care reform legislation
• Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, assistant Republican leader in the Senate and the only Senate Republican to vote for the health reform bill