Creating a Healthier Vermont

By Jenney Samuelson
As the Secretary of the Agency of Human Services (AHS), I am listening to what Vermonters want: broader insurance coverage, well-supported healthcare providers, and a stable health care system. On June 28, 2022, Vermont secured federal funding to meet these goals and to support the health and wellbeing of Vermonters statewide. This funding, through the Global Commitment demonstration, advances each of those goals. The state’s healthcare system and the health of all Vermonters will be better for it.

We are filling gaps in healthcare coverage for many Vermonters by reauthorizing subsidies for individuals buying coverage through Vermont Health Connect, and Vermont is expanding the benefits available to people receiving help with prescription drug costs through the VPharm program.

Health and wellbeing are especially difficult to reach for Vermonters who lack stable, affordable housing. This agreement paves the way for Vermont’s Supportive Housing Assistance Pilot to launch by 2025. The program helps Vermonters covered by Medicaid secure and maintain permanent, supportive housing appropriate for their needs.

Mental health is a key component of our health care system. Vermont is the first state in the nation to gain approval to offer substance use treatment coverage to state residents who would not otherwise qualify for Medicaid. By 2025, Vermont will offer these benefits to Vermonters with incomes of up to about $30,000 per year for a single adult or up to about $62,000 per year for an adult in a family of four. It also provides sustainable funding for the Lund Home—Vermont’s residential treatment program for pregnant women, postpartum women, and mothers with mental health and substance use disorder—so that families can stay together during treatment.

Under the new agreement, Vermont can spend up to $928.2 million on public health and expanded coverage, using these funds to infuse the state’s provider organizations and workforce as we recover from the COVID-19 crisis. Public health is vital to our state’s progress towards a more accessible, equitable, and coordinated system of care for all Vermonters.

Vermonters need a financially sound health care system. Rising costs for workforce and supplies are threatening the financial health of many providers. This agreement gives Vermont first-in-the-nation flexibility to adjust spending caps if the state determines that it needs to increase provider rates. With this new authority, we can be confident that Vermont has the tools it needs to stabilize and strengthen the healthcare system.

Lastly, Vermont will have $15 million to invest in health information technology for over 275 mental health, substance use, and long-term care providers who offer a wide range of essential services to Vermonters. These health care workers will have access to this federal funding for the first time.

As we look to the years ahead, AHS is confident that the new Global Commitment demonstration will provide Vermont with tools to improve health and shore up our health care infrastructure. AHS looks forward to our continued partnership with health care providers and stakeholders as we implement this new agreement and create a healthier Vermont.