Vermont Veterans Home requests $9.7 million budget adjustment after delayed Medicaid settlement and capital costs

The Vermont Veterans Home asked the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Jan. 23, for a $9.7 million budget adjustment to cover a Medicaid settlement, capital project reimbursements and higher operating costs through the end of the fiscal year.

The request includes a Medicaid settlement tied to a retrospective waiver-based reconciliation and reimbursements for security and American Wing work that the home already paid from operating cash. “We are an agency of the state of Vermont,” Melissa Jackson, chief executive officer and licensed administrator of the Vermont Veterans Home, told the committee as she introduced the adjustment request.

The nut of the request is a Medicaid settlement of roughly $4.27 million for fiscal year 2023 that the home said will true up interim Medicaid payments to its actual costs. Jackson said the home currently receives an interim Medicaid rate of $475 per day and that true-up settlements have run substantially higher — “most recently, it’s been a little over $700,” she said — producing the settlement now being requested in the budget adjustment.

Committee…