Vermont Health Access Seeks Major Midyear Budget Adjustment as Medicaid Redeterminations Continue

The Department of Vermont Health Access asked the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Jan. 23 for a midyear budget adjustment totaling roughly $1,250,000,000 across its core appropriation lines, citing updated caseload and utilization forecasts, technical corrections and one-time timing issues after a pharmacy claims outage.

The request, presented by Deshaun Gross, principal at the Department of Vermont Health Access, and Stephanie Barrett, financial director, includes a $175,000,000 net change in the department's administration line and a program-level adjustment of just over $1,000,000,000. "We have about 1,500 cases left of age of blind and disabled caseload that has not been fully redetermined yet," Gross said, describing a short-term need for temporary staff to clear redeterminations without disrupting routine operations.

Why it matters: Medicaid is an entitlement program and the department said it needs adjusted spending authority to continue paying providers and maintain program operations. The largest driver is a consensus caseload-and-utilization forecast that the department and its budget partners update periodically; revised utilization estimates and reconciliation payments to accountable care arrangements also contributed.

Officials told the committee that in the administration budget they are requesting temporary staffing to complete redeterminations, amendments and technical adjustments to the MMIS (Medicaid Management Information System) contracts, and…