Green Mountain Care Board denies funding request submitted by Brattleboro Memorial Hospital
In its Oct. 4 letter to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, the Green Mountain Care Board denied the hospital's rate increase request of 4.7 percent, instead authorizing a 3.4 percent increase, stating "Vermont is confronting a health care affordability crisis."
For Chris Dougherty, president and CEO of BMH, this means cutting about $1.1 million from the proposed budget, with revenue limited to $113,943,285 and an operating margin of $550,000.
"We had originally planned to stay within Green Mountain Care Board guidance on a commercial rate increase of 3.4 percent, but learned on June 5, 2024, that Medicaid would not offer a rate increase in FY25," states BMH's budget letter to the Care Board. "To account for the shortfall created by Medicaid’s rate freeze, we are increasing our commercial rate request to 4.7 percent."
"It is appropriate for the hospital to focus on managing expenses and reducing inefficiencies to obtain a positive margin rather than increasing its commercial rate," states the letter to BMH. "This strategy is appropriate to promote efficient and economic operation of the hospital."
Similar letters went out to Vermont's 13 other community hospitals, with all but two notified of reduced rate increases.
The GMCB ordered that in 2025, expenses state-wide are to be capped at $3.7 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent over 2023.