Vermont regulators trim $145 million in hospital cost increases
VTDigger
Vermont’s health care regulator, the Green Mountain Care Board, wrapped up its review of the budgets of the state’s 14 hospitals on Friday by requiring another four of them to scale back expectations for increasing their charges in 2024.
In all, the board required half of the state’s hospitals to cut back how much they planned to charge for their services, resulting in an estimated combined $145 million in budget reductions, according to a press release issued by the board. Most of that comes out of the budget of the University of Vermont Medical Center because of its size, with almost $1.9 billion in patient-related revenue.
The combined trims should limit the increase in costs to insurers next year to 4.1%, the board said in its release.
At a meeting Friday, the board approved its final four budgets. It allowed Copley Hospital in Morristown and Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury to increase their charges the most, by 8 and 7%, respectively. But both had sought increases of 15%.