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Vermont committee reviews reinsurance, state subsidies and Basic Health Program to address post-subsidy affordability gap
Summary
The Joint Fiscal Committee heard Department of Vermont Health Access deputy commissioner Addie Strumlow outline three options — expanded Vermont Premium Assistance, a reinsurance program via a 1332-style waiver, and a Basic Health Program — to blunt the loss of federal exchange subsidies that shrank coverage and raised premiums for about 30,000 people in the individual market.
The Joint Fiscal Committee on Feb. 12 reviewed technical analysis from the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) on options to improve affordability in Vermont’s individual health insurance market after enhanced federal subsidies expired in 2025.
Addie Strumlow, deputy commissioner at DVHA, told members the affected market covers about 30,000 people and that the expiration of enhanced subsidies reduced federal assistance by roughly $65 million to $70 million, producing an enrollment decline near 7 to 8 percent. "This part of the market that we're talking about is very small. It's about 30,000 people," Strumlow said, noting the impact falls most heavily on people with incomes above 400 percent of the federal poverty level, who largely lost all subsidy.
Strumlow presented three affordability strategies studied by DVHA: expanding Vermont Premium Assistance (the state subsidy program), creating a reinsurance fund supported by a federal pass-through under a 1332-style waiver, and…
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