Here are eight things to know.
1. The federal government has told Vermont it must no longer use millions in Medicaid money for certain psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse centers, information technology projects and education programs, according to the article.
2. The restriction from the federal government comes packaged with an agreement renewed in October called the global commitment waiver, which gives Vermont a large amount of Medicaid money to spend in many different ways, according to the report. As part of the agreement, federal officials are restricting the use of money on certain initiatives.
3. Specifically, the federal government is requiring that Vermont “phase down” the use of federal monies for “facilities that qualify as an institution of mental disease under federal law, which is a facility primarily for mental health or substance use disorder treatment” with more than 16 beds, Dean Mudgett, spokesperson for the Vermont Agency of Human Services, said in the report.
4. This “phase down” requirement means the state will be required to transition to a new funding source in 2021 and continue the transition over six years. In total, the new federal requirement will cut $34.5 million in gross spending at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin and the Brattleboro Retreat, a spokesperson said in the report. However, Rutland (Vt.) Regional Medical Center is not set to lose funding for its psychiatric beds, as it does not qualify as an “institution of mental disease.”
5. According to the report, Jason Gibbs, the spokesperson for Vermont Gov.-elect Phil Scott’s transition team, said the incoming administration cannot yet say how it would solve the reduction in available psychiatric funding, noting the reduction will not happen for a number of years.
6. In addition to the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital and the Brattleboro Retreat, the change will affect four substance abuse centers: Valley Vista in Bradford, Maple Leaf Treatment Center in Underhill, Serenity House in Wallingford, and the Lund Home in Burlington, according to the Joint Fiscal Office. The federal agreement change will also affect funding for the state’s health information exchange, run by Vermont IT leaders; funding for physician training to the University of Vermont College of Medicine; and other unnamed education programs, according to the report.
7. The funding phase down at the four substance abuse centers will start in 2021, while the health information technology fund will be cut in half starting in calendar year 2018 and fully eliminated by 2019, according to the report. The $4 million annual investment for the physician training program at the UVM College of Medicine in Burlington will no longer be available for training physicians if they are not in underserved areas, according to the report, which cites the Joint Fiscal Office. It is unclear, though, whether this change will end the appropriation altogether to the medical school, the report notes.
8. In the meantime, according to the report, the Vermont Agency of Human Services has indicated it will apply for a “substance use disorder demonstration waiver” through the federal government to pull down federal matching dollars for substance abuse services.
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