Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (Blue Cross VT) announced the removal of prior authorization to Open MRI in Vermont and New Hampshire effective February 1, 2024. This strategic decision is part of Blue Cross VT’s commitment to enhancing health care accessibility, directing care towards high-quality, cost-effective services, and reducing the administrative burden on health care providers. The singular focus of the state’s only local, nonprofit health plan is to make health care work better for Vermonters. This change improves member access to a high-quality service that has a four times lower cost than other Vermont facilities that perform MRIs and will improve access and convenience to a quality service for members, while lowering premium costs.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) Community Health Fund Advisory Committee awarded a total of over $15,000 in grants to H.O.P.E., The St. Johnsbury Community HUB, Lyndon Institute, NEK Community Growth Center, Inc. and Northeast Kingdom Youth Services. These grant recipients will provide a range of programs, education and opportunities that ensure food access for youth, provide early prevention and wellness information, and support inclusion of vulnerable community members.

by Devon Green, VAHHS VP of Government Relations Although it was only the third week of the session, last week was a whirlwind. VAHHS testified in Senate Health and Welfare on S.211, the health care reform omnibus bill. VAHHS discussed the current health care landscape, including the fact that emergency departments are overwhelmed because 142 individuals statewide are in hospital beds because they have not place else to go. VAHHS advocated for greater clarity, predictability, and greater availability of technical stakeholder input. VAHHS also discussed the need for clarifying regulatory versus policy roles as Vermont moves forward with the AHEAD model and global budgets. Multiple witnesses testified for the need to ensure clarity around policy versus regulation, but struggled with how to define policy. 

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Vermont Business Magazine Last week, Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and other colleagues at an abortion rights briefing ahead of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade to discuss Senate Democrats’ fight to pass federal legislation to protect reproductive rights. The Senator highlighted Vermont’s action to enshrine personal reproductive liberty in its state constitution and emphasized the significant impact of anti-abortion legislation introduced and enacted by many Republican-leaning states after the Dobbs decision. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living (DAIL) has awarded Riverflow Community Inc one of three Act 186 pilot planning grants to develop new and innovative housing options for individuals with developmental disabilities. Act 186 of 2022 appropriated $500,000 for housing and residential service pilot planning grants. DAIL has awarded Riverflow Community Inc. a grant of up to 169,500 for this work. The Riverflow Community project aims to plan a housing and service project in Monkton, spread across 30 acres. The project will strive to provide accommodation and services for a minimum of 15 people with developmental disabilities.

Vermont Business Magazine Banish the winter blues this year by participating in Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s Snow Days event. Blue Cross VT, Vermont’s only local, non-profit health plan, holds its Snow Days event each winter to help Vermonters get outside and be active. Enjoying the great winter activities that Vermont offers connects people with nature, builds ties within the community, and supports personal wellness.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Congressional Delegation, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) over $1 million through USDA’s Organic Market Development Grant (OMDG) Program. The $1 million grant from USDA will be matched locally for a total of $2 million to expand the market for organic maple and dairy. NOFA-VT, in partnership with Vermont Way Foods (VWF) and Food Connects (FC), will use the funding to expand market access for Vermont’s organic producers by developing wholesale markets, new dairy, maple, and other Vermont organic products to be marketed under the Vermont Way Foods brand, and by increasing consumer awareness of the value of buying Vermont organic agricultural products.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center today submitted a certificate of need (CON) to the Green Mountain Care Board, seeking approval to purchase the Colchester-based Fanny Allen Campus from its current owners for $17.3 million. The CON submission comes as Fanny Allen’s current owners, Covenant Health, a Catholic health care system that currently holds the property through Fanny Allen Holdings, say they will sell the 22-acre campus which UVM Medical Center currently leases. UVM Health Network and Medical Center leaders say securing the hospital’s Fanny Allen-based operations is critical to ensure continuity of care for thousands of patients who access clinical services located on the campus and to improving long-term financial stability for the region’s only tertiary care facility.

Vermont Business Magazine US Department of Agriculture (USDA) State Director for Rural Development in New Hampshire and Vermont, Sarah Waring, today announced $5,180,598 in grant awards for farmers and small businesses through the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP. To highlight the investments, she met with New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-1) in Rollinsford, NH, at Wentworth Greenhouses, a recent REAP grant recipient.  In Bellows Falls, Vermont, the Whitney Blake Company will construct a large solar array to generate roughly 736,000 kWh of power each year. This investment will offset an estimated 90 percent of the Company’s annual energy consumption, saving more than $107,100. 

Vermont Business Magazine Cassidy Rae Petit, 26, of Oakland, California, passed away alongside her fiancé, Lochie Ferrier, 27, in a plane crash off the coast of Northern California on January 14, 2024. Cassidy, affectionately known as "CP" to her friends and family, was born in Biddeford, Maine, precisely on her due date, May 27, 1997. From the start, it was clear she couldn’t wait to tackle the world. She is the daughter of Kim (Vermette) Petit and Peter Petit, of Biddeford, Maine. Cassidy furthered her education at the University of Vermont (UVM) in Burlington, where she majored in psychology and neuroscience and graduated in 2019. It was at UVM that her adventurous, free-spirited and curious personality allowed her to develop into the creative and brave leader that she was. She interned at the local nonprofit Lund, supporting and advocating for women and families experiencing poverty, substance use and abuse. This ignited her passion for women’s health and equity. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that David Ainsworth, 42, of Lyndonville, Vermont, was arraigned today on four felony counts of Promoting a Recording of Sexual Conduct and five felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against the defendant are the result of a criminal investigation conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), including personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Lyndonville Police Department.