Financial Management

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 12, 2024
For more information, please email the Board at GMCB.Board@vermont.gov.
 

GREEN MOUNTAIN CARE BOARD SETS PREMIUM ADJUSTMENTS
FOR BLUE CROSS AND MVP

Montpelier, VT - The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) directed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and MVP Health Plan, Inc. (MVP) to adjust their proposed 2025 premiums for individuals and small businesses, affecting over 70,000 Vermonters.

Key points:

• Federal premium assistance will continue to be available in 2025 to most people who purchase a plan in the individual market. The total amount of assistance will also be much larger than in prior years. As a result, despite significant increases in the gross premiums of individual plans,for most people, the net premiums, after accounting for premium subsidies, are expected to decrease. GMCB encourages people to go to Vermont Health Connect and explore their eligibility for assistance and carefully evaluate their plan options this year.
• GMCB acknowledges that, for purchasers of small group plans, as well as individuals who are not eligible for premium assistance, the approved premium increases are painfully high.However, considering the insurers’ history of losses in these markets and serious concerns expressed by the Department of Financial Regulation about BCBSVT’s solvency, GMCB had limited latitude this year to require further reductions to the proposed premiums.
• GMCB required the insurers to make changes to the rates recommended by GMCB’s actuaries.GMCB also required the insurers to lower their assumptions about price increases at Vermont hospitals, which GMCB regulates through its hospital budget review authority.
• GMCB Board Chair, Owen Foster, stated: “These rates reflect deep fundamental failures in our healthcare system and the immediate need for systematic change. While these rates are plainly unacceptable, the alternative of an insolvent insurer unable to pay for patient care was worse.Vermont must address its underlying healthcare cost structure, demographic and housing challenges, and transform its healthcare system if we are to alleviate the healthcare affordability crisis we are facing.”

This year’s rate requests underscore the vital importance of ongoing transformation efforts included in the Act 167 Community Engagement work. These efforts aim to create a more sustainable and affordable healthcare system to better meet the needs of Vermonters while ensuring financial stability. GMCB calls on all stakeholders—hospitals, insurers, policymakers, community health care leaders, and the public—to actively engage in these transformation efforts to build a healthcare system that is both resilient and accessible.

View the GMCB press release here. 
Specific rate increases by plan will be published by the carriers in late September or early October. 

On November 28, Governor Scott and Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak announced the creation of the Municipal Climate Recovery Fund (MCRF). This $15 million loan program will support flood-impacted municipalities by significantly reducing the interest they must pay on short-term loans they take out to pay for recovering from the 2023 summer floods before FEMA payments arrive (which can take several months, perhaps more than a year). Operated by the Vermont Bond Bank with funding from the state, MCRF will offer financing that allows municipalities to refinance or finance flood expenses at a reduced interest rate as low as 1.3% for up to seven years. The program will save taxpayers in flood-impacted communities up to an estimated $3.5 million.

The Vermont Bond Bank is also partnering with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) on the implementation of the MCRF to further reduce interest rates on these loans for the members of VLCT’s Property and Casualty Intermunicipal Fund (VLCT PACIF) whose flood losses exceeded their insurance coverage. VLCT will subsidize applicants' interest rates to near 0% for as long as seven years, up to a total of $1 million for the group. 

"This is going to reduce the cost of debt so [recipients] can put more of that money into other aspects of running a town – they don't have to raise taxes or cut services [to regain the interest costs]," Brady explains.

• Learn more about the program at the Bond Bank's MCRF webpage. 
• View VLCT Executive Director Ted Brady speaking in the November 28 press conference (presenting at 15:44 and answering a question at 28:29).

The municipalities that are eligible for the additional assistance from VLCT PACIF are Barre City, Barre Town, Bolton Town, Brandon Town, Brighton Town, Cabot Town, Central Vermont SWMD, Chelsea Town, Chester Town, Glover Town, Hardwick Electric, Hardwick Town, Irasburg Town, Jeffersonville Village, Johnson Town, Johnson Village, Ludlow Town, Ludlow Village, Marshfield Town, Montpelier City, Richmond Town, Rockingham Town, Rutland Town Fire District 1, Springfield Town, Wallingford Town, Washington Town, West Haven Town, Weston Town, Wheelock Town, Williamstown Town, Winooski Valley Park District, Wolcott Town, Woodbury Town, Woodstock Town, and Wrightsville Beach Recreation District.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued the Obligation Interim Final Rule (IFR) to address funding recipients’ questions and comments regarding the definition of obligation. The Obligation IFR revises the definition of obligation in Treasury’s implementing regulations for the SLFRF/ARPA program and provides related guidance to give additional flexibility and clarity to recipients to support their use of SLFRF/ARPA funds. We advise referring to Treasury's two-page “Quick Reference Guide” which informally summarizes the seventeen-page Obligation IFR and Obligation IFR slide presentation.

The Subrecipient Annual Report (SAR) is required to be submitted to the Vermont Department of Finance and Management annually within 45 days after the end of your fiscal year by all subrecipients of federally funded grants. Since your local ARPA award is federal funding, you must include it in this report.  

When you are completing the Subrecipient Annual Report, you must include only the  ARPA* funds that were expended during your fiscal year for which you are reporting. Here is what you should include for your local ARPA funds:  

In Section III - Subrecipient Schedule of Federal Expenditure:

• CFDA Number (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) CFDA numbers have been replaced with ALN (Assistance Listing Number). The ALN for ARPA is 21.027.
• Granting Agency/Department - U.S. Dept. of the Treasury
• Grant Number - Use your assigned "Town ID" number which can be found HERE.
• Expenditures - enter your total ARPA expenditures  for the fiscal year on which you are reporting.  (DO NOT enter the total amount of your award or the total amount of cash you've received - you report ARPA expenditures only.)

*  If you expended any ARPA funds as a "subrecipient" of a grant from an entity other than the U.S. Department of the Treasury (ex. a grant from an Agency or Department of the State of Vermont), then you must also report these funds in the Subrecipient Annual Report and do so separately from your local ARPA funds.  They will have the same CFDA/ALN Number but the Granting Agency and Grant Number will be different. 

If you received any ARPA funds as a "beneficiary," then you do not need to include these funds in this report. 

If you are unsure whether you are "subrecipient" or a "beneficiary," please read this FAQ: What is the difference between a "beneficiary" and a "subrecipient"? and if you are still unsure, then reach out to the Agency, Department or entity that awarded the funds to your town/city/village.

Common Subrecipient Annual Report (SAR) Questions can be found HERE.

The State of Vermont has created a one-stop-shop for all State Fiscal Recovery Fund (State ARPA) programs that are available to municipalities as eligible applicants.  It can be found HERE. 

For each program this document provides the:

• Name of the overseeing state agency, department, or division
• Official program name
• Succinct narrative summary
• Point of contact name and email address
• Link to the website to learn more

This is an excellent resource for towns, cities and villages interested in leveraging their local ARPA awards.