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This is our annual end of the legislative session issue. Click HERE for our 2022 Final Legislative Report, which outlines the bills passed this year that impact home health and hospice agencies. The biggest news from the legislative session is the inclusion of an 8 percent Choices for Care rate increase…

The first half of the legislative session was marked by the passage of an unusually complex Budget Adjustment Act, an unexpected and substantial health care reform package in the Senate, and a House budget that includes a 7 percent Medicaid rate increase for the Choices for Care program. The Senate is…

While the media’s attention is often focused on the hospital workforce, home health and hospice agencies are also managing a substantial workforce crisis. Our members are also facing substantially increased costs for “traveler” staff to fill in gaps in employed staff.   At this writing, the Senate…

The legislative session is now in full swing. The House and Senate should finalize the Budget Adjustment Act this week. The House Appropriations Committee is actively debating the SFY23 budget, and policy committees in both bodies are taking up a variety of initiatives related to health care reform,…

I’m don’t usually make New Year resolutions, largely because I’m not a big fan of resolutions. The growth and change I’ve seen in myself has always come from taking a small step in the right direction, and then another, and then another. If I do anything in January, I’ll choose one habit to work on —something…

This year’s Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) is more important to home health and hospice agencies than usual. Every year, the Administration brings a proposal to legislators in January to make adjustments to the state budget based on actual spending and any unexpected needs that have come up. January is…

VNAs of Vermont executive director Jill Olson Is featured in a new documentary sponsored by the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, which will air on Vermont PBS on December 2, 2021 at 8 p.m. Though Vermont is going through a tough time with COVID cases as of this writing, our response…

The Vermont Legislature has adjourned for the second time in a year—the first being last Fall, when they finished up the extra-long 2020 session. While the session that began in January was an average length, it was far from ordinary, as legislators were largely working remotely. Despite the distance…

Last week, the Vermont homebound vaccination partnership between home health agencies and EMS was poised to cross the 3,000 mark for first doses. More than half of those homebound Vermonters have also received their second dose. This effort is a national model that has brought relief and protection to…

This week, the VNAs of Vermont is publishing our annual Crossover Report. Every year, mid-March marks a critical juncture in the legislative process known as Crossover. Generally, bills that haven’t made it out of committee by crossover are unlikely to made it over the legislative finish line. There…