Green Mountain Care Board staff outline S.126 changes to hospital budget reporting and review

Green Mountain Care Board staff on April 17 described proposed statutory changes in draft bill S.126 that would expand what hospitals must report to the board and broaden the board's review powers under sections 4 and 5. Staff described new data requirements on executive and clinical compensation, administrative versus clinical head counts, an operating-expense benchmark, and a 90-day notice process for planned service reductions.

The proposed changes, staff said, aim to standardize hospital budget submissions and focus board resources on hospitals that miss benchmarks. "We regulate hospitals because ... we're a major contributor to our out of control costs in the state," said Matthew Sutter, deputy director of the health system finance team at the Green Mountain Care Board. He described the board's existing calendar: internal benchmark development January–March, budget submissions in July, hearings in August, and budget orders in September/October.

Mark Ningsler, staff attorney for the Green Mountain Care Board, told the committee the benchmarks are designed to let the board waive routine review for hospitals that meet them. "The idea of the benchmarks is not to say everybody gets…