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Vermont Legal Aid urges restoration of Medicare Advocacy Project funding after governor proposes cut
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Summary
Interim VLA director Bessie Weiss told the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 11 that the governor's FY2027 budget would eliminate the Medicare Advocacy Project (MAP) appropriation; she urged the legislature to restore funding, citing recoveries, a recent contract award, and statutory criteria for ending MAP.
Bessie Weiss, interim executive director of Vermont Legal Aid, told the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 11 that the governor's proposed fiscal 2027 budget would eliminate the appropriation for the Medicare Advocacy Project, known as MAP, and urged lawmakers to restore the funding.
Weiss said MAP, established by statute in 1989, helps ensure dual-eligible Vermonters receive Medicare coverage they are entitled to and that the program also pursues recoveries for the state. "Since 2000 recovery for the state has exceeded what VLA has received from the state for this work by roughly $3,400,000," she said, citing MAP's track record and its role in the Glenda Jimmo litigation that expanded Medicare coverage for people with conditions that could not improve.
Weiss described recent pressures on recoveries — COVID-related pauses in recovery efforts, the July 2025 Genesis bankruptcy that froze more than $200,000 in potential claims, and added complexity from Medicare Part C appeals — but said MAP continues active work. She told the committee MAP is currently pursuing "over $1,100,000" in Medicaid recovery from cases opened in 2025 and last month and that VLA had been surprised to hear at a recent Appropriations hearing that the governor's budget proposes eliminating MAP despite a new five-year contract awarded to VLA in November.
Weiss also raised a statutory-procedure concern, saying the state has not complied with the law that governs ending MAP (transcript citation: "33 BSA section 6,703"), which requires two criteria before the commissioner may terminate the contract. She warned that bringing MAP work in-house would be difficult without the team's specialized attorneys and paralegals and said losing the appropriation would have tangible effects: "If MAP funding is not restored, Vermont Legal Aid would lose over $5.20, nearly $530,000 in state fiscal year 2027," a loss she said would lead to staff layoffs and reduced services.
During questioning, committee members asked about the federal match rate for benefits (Weiss said the 50¢ federal match remains in place), the role of the attorney general on false-claims recoveries (Weiss said she is aware of that work but unclear about the AG's ability to reallocate recovered funds), and how MAP-related funding appears in the state budget (Weiss said most AHS contract funding appears in the E300 line and confirmed the governor's proposal removes MAP funding).
Weiss concluded by noting Vermont Legal Aid's broader workload — a statewide helpline that fields thousands of calls, roughly 18,000 Vermonters helped last year, and about 2,600–3,000 full-representation cases annually — and asked the committee to prioritize restoring MAP in its memo to appropriations. The committee accepted written testimony for the record; Attorney General Park was scheduled to present next.
