Thursday, April 7, 2016
The plan that the board’s majority approved was essentially what hospital officials put forward two weeks ago. As partners in the University of Vermont Health Network, the hospitals submitted the proposal jointly. The board deleted a proposed $3 million investment in health payment reform initiatives, redirecting that money to rate reduction.
The board wrestled for nearly two hours over what the two hospitals should do with their excess revenues. “We have been together, some of us, for five years, and we have never been at this point,” chair Al Gobeille said of the stalemate. “The real question is, can the two camps come together?”
The answer turned out to be no.
Tags: Green Mountain Care Board , University of Vermont Medical Center , Central Vermont Medical Center , Rutland Regional Medical Center , Al Gobeille , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The chemical, a possible carcinogen, has already been detected in dozens of private drinking water wells in North Bennington, the former home to a plant that used PFOA to make Teflon products. Subsequent tests found amounts exceeding the state’s standard of 20 parts per trillion in a creek and a pond near the closed plant. A municipal water source in Pownal showed PFOA levels of 26 parts per trillion, slightly above the guideline set by the Department of Health.
Alyssa Schuren, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said her staff researched the industries in Vermont that might have used PFOA to make Teflon, wire coatings or nonstick fabrics. The state plans to coordinate testing of ground and drinking water at and around each of the 11 sites they identified, Schuren said. The federal Environmental Protection Agency will pay for most of the testing.
Tags: PFOA , IBM , Alyssa Schuren , Department of Environmental Conservation , Department of Health , Saint-Gobain , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
To make up for the loss in tax revenue from tobacco sales, the bill calls for a 13-cent increase in the tax on cigarettes in each of the next three years. A single 13-cent tax hike would raise about $900,000.
The House spent much of Tuesday on this measure. The first vote, to add the tax to the age-change bill, was close: 75 to 68. Critics argued the bill was another excuse to raise taxes.
“This is not a health bill, but just another tax and anti-business bill,” Rep. Ron Hubert (R-Milton) said, explaining his no vote.
Tags: cigarettes , Rep. Carolyn Branagan , Rep. Ron Hubert , Rep. Kurt Wright , Rep. Mike Mrowicki , Sen. John Campbell , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 31, 2016
The two hospitals — which are affiliated under an umbrella organization called the UVM Health Network — posted jointly nearly $30 million in surplus revenues for the fiscal year that ended September 30. UVMMC's excess was $22 million, or 2 percent over budget, while CVMC's was $6.9 million, a 4.2 percent variance.
A week ago, network officials proposed giving $12 million of the combined surplus to community health programs and $3 million to health-payment reform initiatives. They said they would address the remaining $14 million when they submitted their 2017 budgets to the regulatory board for approval in the summer, intending to lower rates for commercial insurance.
Tags: Al Gobeille , Central Vermont Medical Center , Copley Hospital , Green Mountain Care Board , Rutland Regional Medical Center , Sen. Richard Westman , University of Vermont Medical Center , UVM Health Network , UVM Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 24, 2016
The University of Vermont Health Network, the hospital system they belong to, presented the Green Mountain Care Board with a plan for what its two Vermont hospitals would do with nearly $30 million in surplus revenues from the fiscal year that ended September 30.
Under the proposal, UVMMC and CVMC would give $12 million to community health programs. They would invest $3 million in health payment reform initiatives to help move from the fee-for-service model to an all-payer model.
The two hospitals would address the remaining $14 million when they submit their 2017 budgets for approval, with the intention of using it to reduce rates for commercial insurance.
Tags: Central Vermont Medical Center , Green Mountain Care Board , John Brumsted , University of Vermont Medical Center , UVM Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Rep. Ruqaiyah Morris (D-Bennington) said the bill would preserve in Vermont the provisions in the federal Affordable Care Act that guarantee women access to contraception, should the federal law be repealed. It also would expand free coverage to male contraception, which isn’t included in the ACA, and provide supplementary payments to health care providers for the insertion and removal of long-acting reversible contraceptives such as intrauterine devices, or IUDs.
Tags: Long-acting reversible contraception , LARC , Rep. Ruqaiyah Morris , Rep. Vicki Strong , Rep. George Till , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 10, 2016
The bill would also require retailers to display e-cigarettes in places accessible only to sales personnel — such as behind counters or in locked displays.
Their action means that the bill will come up for a vote in the House next week. It still has to be considered in the Senate.
Tags: Rep. Ann Pugh , Rep. George Till , Rep. Paul Dame , e-cigarettes , R.J. Reynolds , smoking , Rep. Jill Krowinski , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
The state has collected and is testing samples from 135 more wells, with results expected next week.
Tags: Gov. Peter Shumlin , PFOA , Sen. Dick Sears , Saint-Gobain , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Shumlin clearly wanted to contrast his administration’s quick action with the slow response that Republican Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan had to the lead contamination of the drinking water in Flint.
Prompted by news that contamination had been detected in water sources in nearby Hoosick Falls, N.Y., the Department of Environmental Conservation took water samples from the municipal water source in North Bennington, and from wells at three homes, a business and the wastewater treatment plant. The test looked for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used to make Teflon. North Bennington was home to a Teflon manufacturer, and the company, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, still operates a plant in Hoosick Falls.
No PFOA contamination turned up in the town water supply, but levels exceeding what the Vermont Department of Health considers safe were found in the other wells, Shumlin said.
Tags: Gov. Peter Shumlin , PFOA , Department of Environmental Conservation , Alyssa Schuren , Sen. Dick Sears , drinking water , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
The vote fell largely along party lines, with most Democrats supporting the measure and Republicans objecting.
Gov. Peter Shumlin has already pledged to sign the measure.
Tags: Rep. Tom Stevens , Rep. Helen Head , Rep. Cynthia Browning , Rep. Oliver Olsen , Rep. Loren Shaw , paid sick leave , Image , Web Only