Draft H.13 would require AHS to set and report Medicaid rates for home and community‑based services

Jen Carby, legislative counsel in the Office of Legislative Council, told legislators the Human Services Committee is circulating draft 3.1 of H.13, “an act relating to Medicaid payment rates for home and community‑based service providers and designated and specialized service agencies.”

Carby said the bill would require the Secretary of Human Services to determine payment rates for home and community‑based services (HCBS) that are “reasonable and adequate to achieve the required outcomes for the populations they serve,” and to report those rates and the amounts necessary to fund them to the Legislature annually as part of the agency budget presentation.

The bill expands the statutory definition of HCBS to include long‑term services and supports provided in home or community settings — rather than in nursing homes or other institutional settings — and lists services such as enhanced residential care, home health and hospice, adult day rehabilitation, assistive community care services, and services for people with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, developmental or intellectual disabilities, and brain injury. Carby said the draft incorporates those services into the state’s existing rate‑setting chapter, currently cited in statute as 33 V.S.A. §900.

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