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Long‑term care providers urge full DIVA rate study implementation, 4% inflation adjustment
Summary
Providers, advocacy coalitions and residents told the Appropriations Committees that Vermont must implement the 2023 DIVA rate study increases (cited at roughly $6 million general fund) and add a 4% inflationary adjustment to maintain home and community‑based and residential care capacity.
Multiple long‑term care providers and coalitions said the state's Medicaid reimbursement for home and community‑based and residential long‑term care lags actual costs and threatens access for older and disabled Vermonters.
Helen Laden, speaking for the Long Term Care Crisis Coalition, which represents eight organizations and more than 200 service providers, said a 2023 Agency of Human Services (AHS) rate study showed providers need increases as large as 80% to cover costs; the coalition requested full implementation of the study’s recommended increases, estimated at about $6,000,000 in general funds, plus a 4% inflation adjustment.
Marybeth Kennard, executive director of Vermont Catholic Charities, said more than 80% of residents in her three level‑3 residential care homes are on Medicaid and described a recent facility closure in Rutland attributed to nurse workforce shortages and low Medicaid reimbursement. "The current reimbursement rate just does not cover our cost of care," Kennard said.
Maria King of Cathedral Square described 21 long‑term care community closures and the loss of thousands of beds over the past six years, and urged the committees to fund $6,000,000 for DIVA implementation plus a 4% inflationary adjustment so providers can sustain care and wages.
Daryl Rudy, a St. Johnsbury resident living with Alzheimer’s, testified about personal reliance on Choices for Care and Medicaid programs and urged the committee to include the 4% inflationary adjustment to long‑term care reimbursement rates.
Why it matters: Witnesses said inadequate Medicaid rates and lack of inflation adjustments contribute to staffing shortages, facility closures and shrinking capacity, with direct consequences for seniors and disabled Vermonters who rely on home‑ and community‑based care or residential services.
No formal action was taken during the hearing; testimony will be considered as the committees draft the FY26 appropriations.
