Vermont Legal Aid warns Senate panel that budget would eliminate Medicare Advocacy Project funding

Jessie Weiss, interim executive director of Vermont Legal Aid, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 11 that the governor's proposed budget would eliminate the state appropriation that funds the Medicare Advocacy Project, known as MAP, and urged the legislature to restore funding.

Weiss said VLA and its sister organization Legal Services Vermont provide the core of the state's free civil legal assistance and that MAP helps ensure dual-eligible Vermonters (eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid) get the Medicare coverage to which they are entitled. "The governor's proposed budget does not maintain level funding for Vermont Legal Aid. Specifically, it proposes eliminating the appropriation that funds Medicare Advocacy Project known as MAP," she said.

MAP appeals, Weiss said, recover wrongly billed Medicaid costs by shifting payment to Medicare where appropriate, returning federal dollars to the state and protecting access to home health and other services. "Since 2000, recovery for the state has exceeded what Vermont Legal Aid has received by…