Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Since the Affordable Care Act became law, millions of Americans gained coverage or found more affordable options thanks to premium tax credits available through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released data showing that 1,000 Vermont residents who currently purchase off-Marketplace individual market coverage may qualify for tax credits if they shop for 2017 coverage through the Marketplace.  Nationally, the report finds that 2.5 million Americans who currently purchase off-Marketplace individual market coverage may qualify for tax credits.

Vermont Business Magazine Emerging technologies may encourage elderly people with obesity to improve their strength, make them safer in their homes and lose weight by helping them to change their behavior. The first-year grant of $159,000 from the National Institute on Aging will allow Dr. John A. Batsis to focus on strategies for improving health care delivery and wellness in older adults with obesity by using video conferencing, personal monitoring devices and frequent coaching by healthcare providers. The award is expected to total $796,500 over a five-year period and all NIH grants are subject to available funds in the fiscal years following an award. 

Vermont Business Magazine Over the past year, as Vermont farmers and industry supporters have been preparing to meet the State’s new water quality regulations, the Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program, a program of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, has awarded a total of $65,000 in Dairy Improvement Grants to five dairy farmers for water quality improvement projects. All five farms are located in the Lake Champlain Basin.

The Viability program will be accepting applications for the next round of Dairy Improvement Grants this fall, with an upcoming application deadline of December 15, 2016. Two information sessions will be held for applicants on October 17 from 12:00-2:00 p.m., in Middlebury at the American Legion and in St. Albans at the St. Albans Free Library.

Vermont Business Magazine The following public forums will be held with Governor Peter Shumlin, Human Services Secretary Hal Cohen and Al Gobeille, Chairman of the Green Mountain Care Board, to present a draft of the All-Payer Model, Vermont’s innovative health care reform proposal. The draft proposal is under review and is expected to be amended before it receives the final approval of the Governor, Secretary Cohen, Chairman Gobeille, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) . The hearings are designed to present the plan to the public and those involved in Vermont’s health care system, and to take questions and comments from the audience.

STORY: Vermont has draft agreement with feds for all-payer health care model

Vermont Business Magazine Sheehey Furlong & Behm PC, a full service law firm based in Burlington, has announced an expansion of its Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate practice group through a merger with the firm Melendy Moritz in Woodstock and the addition of Leigh Phillips to the firm.

By Michael Bielawski Vermont Watchdog.org Democrat gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter says her proposal to expand the sales tax to services will be aimed at the wealthiest Vermonters. While barbers are apparently safe, she might inadvertently clip a few high schoolers on prom dates or skydivers out for a weekend of fun. Economists say keeping the tax narrow essentially defeats the purpose and means it won't do much except create more red tape for government and business.

“I will not add any new tax or services that will hurt middle-class Vermonters,” Minter said last week. “I will not add taxes on your haircut or mine.”

by Jennifer Nachbur On September 21, 2016, the National Institutes of Health announced $157 million in awards in fiscal year 2016 to launch a seven-year initiative calledEnvironmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). The ECHO program will investigate how exposure to a range of environmental factors in early development — from conception through early childhood — influences the health of children and adolescents. Kelly Cowan, MD, a pediatric pulmonologist at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at The Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, received a $1.84 million four-year grant as part of this program. 

Vermont Business Magazine Susan G Komen announced this week nearly $33 million in new research awards for investigators across the country whose research will contribute to Komen’s goal of reducing breast cancer deaths by 50 percent over the next decade. University of Vermont Cancer Center researcher and Assistant Professor Jason Stumpff, PhD, earned one of the highly competitive Komen grants, totaling nearly $500,000, to advance research focused on developing a targeted intervention for triple negative breast cancer—a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report ranks Vermont second overall in the nation for women and children's health. United Health Foundation's 2016 America's Health Rankings Health of Women and Children Report provides an in-depth look at state successes and challenges in promoting the health of women, infants and children. Vermont does very well in all the health care data points, but poorly in a few of the behavior categories, particularly for the percentage of women who drink alcohol during pregnancy (15.8 percent) and smoke (20.8 percent). The report evaluates and ranks the 50 states based on more than 60 measures of health and well-being from 18 individual sources of data. Vermont is joined at the top with its neighboring Northeast states, Massachusetts (#1) and New Hampshire (#3).

SEE FULL REPORT CARD BELOW

Vermont Business Magazine Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vermont) kicked off Vermont’s October campaign to file the Fafsa, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid at the Center for Technology in Essex,  highlighting important changes to help students and families apply for financial aid. Welch authored legislation that ultimately led to the White House simplifying the federal form earlier this year. Two major changes – making the Fafsa available three months earlier, beginning Oct. 1, and using last year’s tax returns – means families will have a an earlier starting point to make education more affordable.

Vermont Business Magazine National Life Group Foundation’s board of directors approved a 33 percent increase in its annual budget, raising to $1 million the amount of charitable grants the foundation will be able to award starting in 2017. National Life formalized its philanthropic giving by establishing a charitable foundation in 2006. Since then, the Foundation has awarded $4.2 million in grants to nonprofits large and small, including $750,000 in 2016.

Vermont Busness Magazine On September 9, 2016, the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) awarded the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets $500,000 to develop a Vermont State Produce Safety Program. The award will support Vermont in its collaboration with FDA to cooperatively implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. The $500,000 is the first award of a planned five-year, $3.625 million investment in Vermont’s program by FDA, pending congressional budget allocation.