Appropriations committee hears request for $11 million reconciliation payment for Brattleboro Retreat psychiatric stays

The House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 31 heard from Stephanie Barrett, identified in the transcript as chief financial officer for the agency referred to as “Diva,” about an $11 million reconciliation payment the state expects to owe the Brattleboro Retreat for inpatient psychiatric services used in calendar year 2024.

Barrett said the payment stems from an existing alternative payment method agreement under which the state buys a baseline number of beds at a set rate and reconciles actual utilization after the fact. “For several years, I think since 2020, [we] been paying the Brattleboro Retreat under what's called an alternative payment method,” Barrett told the committee. She said the agreement set the 2024 baseline at 51 beds a day but actual utilization in 2023 and 2024 averaged “62 to 64 beds a day,” producing the reconciliation liability…