Department of Vermont Health Access presents steady administration budget, flags Medicaid cost pressures and requests follow-up analysis

The Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12 that its FY2026 administrative budget is largely steady while program lines show growing cost pressure driven by higher cost per Medicaid enrollee and new one-time and annual items.

“Over the past year, we've made very good progress. We've completed the post pandemic Medicaid renewal … with the 75% retention rate,” said Deshaun Gross, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access. Agency officials gave the committee a line-by-line review of administrative and programmatic ups and downs and identified several items they want the committee to note for the coming fiscal year.

The central office (admin) budget covers DVHA’s 372 employees, overhead and many IT and contract costs; staff told the committee the admin total proposed mirrors the current enacted level (roughly $182.3 million) and that most changes are technical. Stephanie Barrett, DVHA chief financial officer, said the admin budget includes a $2.1 million Pay Act-related personnel increase across funding sources (about $871,000 in general fund) and associated fringe costs, and a set of federal funding maximizations moved between budget lines. Barrett also reported an $8 million correction removing over‑appropriated federal spending authority from the operating budget.

Agency staff described several program changes and cost drivers. DVHA presented a $46.1 million net increase in the Global Commitment line driven not by caseload growth but by higher cost per case following the Medicaid unwinding; the agency contrasted…