BAC Rutland

VCDR is pleased to announce that we have contracted with both Vitzhum and Carroll and Karen Layfayette to help us monitor legislative action on both our budget and policy priorities.

Karen will be focusing on appropriations issues and Mary Claire and Lynee will be monitoring our public policy bills. We will be sending out a committee schedule each week and also an end of week update. Every 2 weeks Mary Claire will be helping us send out a longer update. We hope this helps us get the word out to you quickly, but please don’t hesitate to contact VCDR if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to hearing from you.

Money, or lack of money has dominated the discussions in the Statehouse the last few weeks. As soon as the new Speaker of the House, Shap Smith read the names of the new committee members on the first day of the session the House and eventually the Senate committees began working on how to minimize the effect of Vermont’s economic crisis on the State’s budget. Money committees listened to agency secretaries to figure out where further cuts could be made to the FY09 budget to cover a $49.6 million shortfall. Meanwhile human service committees questioned the same agency heads to understand the human impact of the fall and December rescissions.

On Thursday January 22, Governor Jim Douglas presented his 2010 budget to the legislature. Although he proposed to cover some of the FY09 shortfall with an anticipated $61.2 million Medicaid FMAP rate relief from the federal recovery package, there are still severe cuts or premium increases in many health and human service programs. Recommendations include eliminating all Pharmacy only coverage for programs including the state only programs, where participants are enrolled in Medicare Part D RX Program. Reduce annual cap on adult dental services to $200/yr from $495/year. Reduce provider reimbursements by 4% for those not already impacted by the rescissions

To ensure that Catamount is a sustainable plan for the long term the Governor recommends deductibles on a sliding scale based on income levels and a new health savings account option in Catamount to make health insurance accessible for even more Vermonters. Premium changes include returning VHAP and Dr. Dynasaur premiums to 2007 levels. In addition to the reduction of provider reimbursements, where a claim is covered under both Medicare and Medicaid, the State’s payment would be limited to the Medicaid-reimbursable amount.

Most human service programs are slated for level funding or will experience further reductions from their FY09 levels. The Governor’s budget proposes a 4% across the board cut for nearly all human service grants to save approximately $2M. To offset some of the new costs associated with the increasing number of families eligible for Reach Up, the Governor’s budget proposes three policy changes. Inclusion of $125 in SSI benefits as “family income” in calculating eligibility – until now, that income has been exempt. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) will revise existing rules on sanctioning families so they can remove those who chronically refuse to complete their family development plan or meet work requirements. Another proposal will prevent continuation in the program beyond 60 months for those who don’t meet the ‘hardship criteria’. Finally the Reach Ahead implementation will be delayed for another 18 months.

There are some increases. An increase of $309,000 for caseload increases in Choices for Care, and $1.26M for increased nursing home bed stays. In DAIL, $324,000 will be added for the initiative with the Area Agency on Aging for home delivered meals. In the DCF, $156,000 increase to Aid to Aged, Blind,& Disabled to cover an increased caseload for State supplement to approximately 280 SSI eligibles. In child development a $2.4M increase in incentive payments due to provider accreditation for 7,784 participants plus other caseload adjustments. There is a one-time $1.9M increase for emergency housing and homelessness prevention. Plus there is a $4.75M general fund increase for Reach Up caseload increase. There is also a $440,00 increase to the adoption subsidy to handle a caseload increase of approximately 100 children.

Finally the Governor recommends capital appropriations for the construction and operation of a 15 bed secure residential program in the Waterbury complex. Funding for permitting and pre-construction costs are included in the 2010 Capitol Bill. These are just a few highlights. You can view the Governor’s recommendations by clicking here.

Last Wednesday the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) approved a rule change that will eliminate the coverage of adult chiropractic services from the state Medicaid program. The committee also approved a rule change recommended by DAIL to make permanent the emergency rule changes to Choices for Care. LCAR refused to approve (rule held over to the January 28th LCAR meeting) the rule change suggested for the Attendant Services Program that would have moved many individuals from ASP to Choices for Care. One concern that advocates have is that the rules governing service provision for CFC are more restrictive than those of the ASP and approval of this rule could mean a decrease in services for people presently in the Attendant Services Program. LCAR will consider this rule again this Wednesday at 8:00 in room 10 at the State House.

The End of Life and Palliative Care Committee released its report on the January 16th. The report details findings and recommendations on such issues as chronic pain, provider education around pain management, palliative care, reimbursement issues, insurance coverage, and pediatric waivers for hospice. The House Human Services Committee has read through the report and has scheduled hearings for this Wednesday. The committee plans to put together a committee bill encompassing some of the recommendations of the report.

Wednesday the Senate Judiciary committee will take a look at S.002. This bill proposes to extend protections currently provided only to offenders with a serious mental illness to those who have any disability which substantially impairs their ability to function in the correctional setting and to clarify the process by which the department of corrections shall screen inmates to determine if they have a mental illness or other functional impairment. This legislation passed the House last spring but the Senate did not have time to take it up. Senator Sears introduced the legislation last week.

Other bills of interest include H.66, an act relating to secondary students with disabilities being included in senior activities and graduation. S.24 and H.37 relate to the repeal of the two-vote rule in voting on school budget.

Mary Claire Carroll
Lynne Vitzthum
Vitzthum & Carroll,LLP
23 Saint Paul Street
Montpelier, VT 05602

In Addition…

The Governor’s budget includes for Developmental Services 4 million in new caseload for emergencies, also 1 million in new caseload for public safety. No new dollars for high school graduates and flexible family funding is proposed to go from 1300 to 1000.

GMSA legislative team

Click here to view the Governors recommendations on the state budget.