BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Vermont health care regulators are backing down from a proposal to trim more than a dozen budget requests from hospitals around the state. It comes after UVM Health Network leaders last week said the proposal would further strain patient access. But regulators say their decision was actually based on keeping federal cash flowing.
The Green Mountain Care Board is in the midst of rewriting next year’s hospital budgets. The final plan cuts about $17 million across Vermont’s 14 regulated hospitals in an effort to keep their finances sustainable. "We truly aired on the side of making sure hospitals are financially sustainable moving forward, said Kevin Mullin, the board’s chair.
But that cut is not as deep as planned. The softening happened after the leader of the UVM Health Network pushed back in a scathing letter last week. Mullin says the reason the board changed their minds had nothing to do with the letter. He says
new guidance from the federal government meant the board has to adopt a different budget formula to determine rates or the state could lose millions in federal CARES Act funding. That cash has been critical for providers through the pandemic.
“That would cause hospital leadership at any one of Vermont’s hospitals to be concerned whether or not to accept those federal funds. That would have then shifted that whole burden onto a subset of Vermonters that are the commercially insured,” Mullin said
UVM Health Network CEO John Brumsted says he appreciates the decision but says he anticipates more tough budget decisions in the years ahead. “Those largely are costs that we can’t control, particularly the pharmaceutical costs are a national issue and we just simply don’t have enough revenue coming in to cover those expenses,” he said.
But in the midst of COVID-19 and financial unpredictability, Mullin says the board’s decision means taking action to bring down the cost of health care. “Somebody has to be keeping an eye on it and putting brakes on the growth and spending because spending is growing much faster than the growth of the overall economy,” he said.
The Green Moutain Care Board has until October 14 to deliver their final budget decisions to hospitals.
Related Story:
UVM Health Network pushes back against regulator’s budget cuts
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Green Mountain Care Board changes course on hospital budget cuts - WCAX
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