House Appropriations Committee hears plan for $195 million Rural Health Transformation Grant

BURLINGTON — Agency of Human Services officials briefed the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday on plans to deploy a $195,000,000, five-year Rural Health Transformation Grant awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Jill Mazel Olsen, the agency's newly appointed Medicaid and health systems director, told the committee the state’s application was competitive and the award reflects a credible plan, but that many implementation details remain unresolved. "We did well, and the only metric we had to do well on was the application itself,” Mazel Olsen said, adding that the state received its notice of award on Dec. 29 and must submit a revised budget to CMS by Jan. 30.

The fund is intended for system redesign rather than direct premium subsidies or permanent base-state spending. "We can't use these dollars for the purpose of the premiums, for the purpose of state match. It is not allowable for those purposes," Mazel Olsen said, summarizing CMS restrictions. The agency emphasized the grant is essentially one-time funding over five years…