Appropriations panel hears Department of Corrections budget requests including Medicaid waiver funds and Correctional Industries deficit

The House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 16, 2025, heard from Department of Corrections officials about multiple budget-related items, including a $500,000 capacity-building request tied to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 1115 waiver, a request to fill a long-running deficit in Vermont Correctional Industries of about $3.1–$3.2 million, and a separate cost for a service-level agreement with the Agency of Digital Services.

Deputy Commissioner Kristen Calvert of the Department of Corrections told the committee the $500,000 in general fund and federal funds is “capacity building funds that get us started on our work for the 1115 waiver,” and said the department’s planned implementation date for the waiver work is Jan. 1, 2026. The department said the waiver will enable pre-release and post-release Medicaid-paid services, including medication and care management, for people leaving incarceration. “This will provide coverage 90 days pre release and then a period of time post release for that bridge care management,” Calvert said.

A department policy director explained the waiver responds to a longstanding administrative issue in Medicaid processing: when someone is incarcerated the system must…