Doctors Concerned About Rate-Setting Authority

Two years ago, lawmakers endowed a five-person panel with the power to tell doctors how much they can charge patients for health care services. Now, some physicians with private practices say the rate-setting authority could put them out of business.

Vt. To Post Health Care Rates

Vermont is poised to become the first state in the country to tell people without health insurance how much they can pay for coverage through the federal Affordable Care Act when it begins offering benefits next year.

Fewer Uninsured In Vt., Government Programs Up

A new survey by the state of Vermont finds the number of residents without health insurance has dropped by nearly a third in the past seven years, mainly due to growth in government programs.

GMCB Sets Hospital Budget Targets

The Green Mountain Care Board has established budget targets for Vermont’s 14 hospitals that will add as much as $85 million to the $2.1 billion that is budgeted for the current fiscal year. The actual amount of new money will depend on a series of board decisions on individual hospital budgets before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. The minimum new money would be $64 million.

Analysis: Troubling Portents In GMCB Process

The Green Mountain Care Board is moving steadily toward establishment of a modestly credible budget inflation limit for the Vermont’s 14 hospitals for the coming fiscal year, a performance that would keep Gov. Peter Shumlin’s health reform initiative on track. But some troubling portents have showed up in the process so far.

State Board Sets 4 Percent Inflation Rate For Hospital Budgets

The Green Mountain Care Board has set forth a tentative target inflation rate of 4 percent for Vermont’s 14 hospitals for the coming fiscal year, a target that would add about $85 million to the current statewide spending level of $2.136 billion. The final system increase will depend on the board’s decisions on the individual hospitals’ requests.