VAHHS Update
VAHHS Update arrives every Monday to your inbox and shares our reflections, legislative updates, news from our members around the state, and upcoming educational opportunities. You can sign up for VAHHS Update at the link on the bottom of this page.
Recent Stories in VAHHS Update
Last week, one of the best Montpelier traditions endured—the Montpelier Valentine Phantom struck again—and not even the State House was immune to all the love.
Lamoille Health Partners will close Stowe Family Associates, its primary care practice on Mountain Road in Stowe, as the health care provider continues to cut services in search of financial sustainability.
This sick season, there is expanded access to a new immunization that can help protect babies from getting sick.
When staffers clock in at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, they get to see a piece of art. It looks like a series of blocks and lines, but there’s a story behind it.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced the bipartisan Rural Hospital Support Act to prevent rural hospital closures by extending and modernizing critical Medicare programs.
On the timeline of the legislature, we’ve gone from introductory testimony right into the thick of policy. Below is what happened last week.
UVM Medical Center is the only Vermont hospital offering Tricuspid Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER).
Health Commissioner Mark Levine announced his retirement Friday after eight years serving as the head of the Vermont Department of Health.
A coalition featuring a former governor, doctors, and business and labor leaders says the cost of health care in Vermont is too high and plans to make lowering a priority.
Friday marked the last day of some mental health beds at the Central Vermont Medical Center. It comes as the state is already working with limited mental health care resources.
This week, as officials at World Health Organizations convene meetings discussing everything from Marburg virus in Tanzania to mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are some empty seats in the room — and fewer attendees at virtual meetings.
Vermont’s rural hospitals are in danger of closing. That’s according to the controversial report issued by consulting group Oliver Wyman. Now, some of those hospitals are banding together, saving themselves from closure and saving patients money in the meantime.
Employees at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction were among federal employees across the country this week to get emails offering job buyouts from the Trump administration, and it has some of them nervous.
Legislators want to know what hospitals are doing to address Vermont’s affordability and access issues.
After a 3-1 vote with one abstention, the Green Mountain Care Board joined Gov. Phil Scott and the Agency of Human Services in an agreement to change the way Vermont runs Medicare and Medicaid.
Treasurer Mike Pieciak says a small state investment could erase up to $100 million of the medical debts plaguing some of Vermont’s lowest-income residents.
Vermont leads the nation for its efforts in maternal and infant care-- that’s according to a new report card from the March of Dimes.
As Vermont emerges from negative temperatures, things are heating up at the State House. See below for more details:
As part of a survey requested by the Vermont Legislature circulated by the Vermont Medical Society, HealthFirst, Bistate Primary Care and the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, Vermont clinicians report that prior authorizations are increasing in volume, time consuming for clinicians and medical practices, and that they delay care for patients and increase burnout for practitioners.
Kurt White was fed up with how people talk about mental health. As a trained clinical social worker and therapist with two decades of experience, he knows that the subject can be far more uncomfortable and messy than the polished sound bites and tidy conclusions that dominate media coverage.
The start of the session always feels like going back to school, and even more so during a new biennium. With new committees come introductory and refresher courses on Medicaid, health insurance, and Vermont’s health care system.
Vermont is the only state in the nation to receive an "A" grade for maternal and infant health on the 2024 March of Dimes Report Card, according to a news release.
The Green Mountain Care Board will sign on to an agreement that moves Vermont towards a new federal model for health care reform, following a vote Friday that split the members of the five-person regulatory body.
A new pro-housing advocacy group has entered the scene at the Vermont Statehouse. Their message: Vermont needs to build, build, build, or else the state’s housing deficit will pose an existential threat to its future economy.
Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., professor of medicine and associate dean for graduate medical education at the Larner College of Medicine, and Rup Tandan, M.D., professor of neurological sciences, commented for a Vermont Public story about a Department of Health report showing that the number of Vermonters with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, is above the national average.
While it may be tempting to think that the State House goes into a state of suspended animation during the off-season, only to come alive at the sound of the gavel’s fall in January, there’s a lot of work that goes on with its inhabitants from May to December.
The 2024 election went about as well as it could have for the Republican Party. And nowhere in the nation did Republicans pick up more seats in a state legislature than in the little blue state of Vermont.
Health care professionals are needed in many communities across the U.S., particularly in rural areas.
In November, OneCare Vermont (OCV), an accountable care organization dedicated to improving Vermont’s healthcare system, announced that it would wind down its operations at the conclusion of 2025.
