Current News

Vermont Health Connect today released data on enrollment and renewal data for the state's health care exchange. The exchange covers individuals and company's with 50 or fewer employees. The following numbers are up-to-date as of 11:59 pm Wednesday, December 3, 2014.

Renewals: 15,595 individuals have been checked out into 2015 health plans (out of 38,704 in the renewal pool).

New to Vermont Health Connect: 2,140 individuals have been checked out into 2015 health plans.

Additional Notes:

1) Since the start of open enrollment, the Customer Support Center has answered over 16,000 calls and the average wait time has been less than 10 seconds.

2) Our partners at Optum expect to complete no-change renewals today, ahead of schedule.

Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and brewing technology, announced Thursday (the second major acquistion announced on December 4) that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the outstanding equity of MDS Global Holding p.l.c. (Bevyz) that it does not already own. The transaction is valued at approximately €178 million euros, in cash, or approximately $220 million based on exchange rates as of the close of business on December 3, 2014. Keurig currently owns approximately 15 percent of Bevyz on a fully diluted basis and will fund the acquisition with cash on hand. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the next month.

A-1 Premium Budget, Inc (also known as “Cash in a Wink”), a Delaware company that provides short-term, high-interest internet loans, will pay over $6,600 to twelve Vermont consumers and pay the State of Vermont $10,000 to settle claims that the company violated Vermont consumer protection and lending laws. Attorney General William H. Sorrell noted that this is the fifth settlement in a recent effort to protect Vermonters from predatory lending: “Any lender, large or small, that ignores our state lending and consumer protection laws runs the risk of enforcement by my Office.” More information on the Attorney General’s crackdown on illegal lending can be found here.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin intends to propose a combination of an employer payroll tax and an income-based contribution to finance single payer health care, according to sources with knowledge of the plan. In the latest version of the proposal presented November 19 to the governor and members of his Business Advisory Council on Health Care, the employer-funded payroll tax was pegged at 8 percent, according to multiple sources who asked to remain anonymous because council members had mutually agreed to keep their deliberations under wraps. The Shumlin administration declined to comment for this report.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) have chosen The University of Vermont Medical Center to receive the 2014 “Partnership in Prevention Award” for achieving sustainable improvements in eliminating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). It is the only healthcare organization in the nation to receive the award.

Vermont College of Fine Arts has raised $2.2 million towards its newly launched $3.5 million capital campaign, including a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor. The gift represents the largest gift in the Montpelier college’s history. President Thomas Greene announced today that the “Campaign for VCFA” will continue the school’s growth as a prominent center for graduate arts education.

“VCFA is thriving,” said Greene. “This is an exciting time for our College, as we begin to transform our historic campus to further serve our growing community and to reinforce our standing as a national center for the arts.”

The campaign will focus on two primary projects, the renovation of an existing building to create an exhibition and performance center and the creation of an alumni and faculty center named after long-time Writing program director Louise Crowley.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org An ad hoc group will release education finance proposals next week. The 10-member working group was called together by the House Speaker’s office and represents a wide political spectrum and geographic regions of the state. The group has met in private every two weeks since the beginning of September to develop ideas for overhauling the state’s complex education finance system.

Three basic concepts have emerged from the meetings: a “renovation” plan, which would reduce school spending; a variable income tax proposal, based on H680, which would shift the burden for education finance away from the property tax; and a “regional block grant model,” which would result in a major overhaul of the education finance system. The last two plans would replace the Act 60 finance system.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Public Service, in conjunction with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Department of Information and Innovation, has released the final 2014 Telecommunications Plan. The Plan addresses the major ongoing developments in the telecommunications industry, including broadband infrastructure development, regulatory policy (as the non-regulated aspects keep growing), greater competition and recommendations for future action.

“This Plan is the product of a rigorous public input process. The Department carefully considered the proposals made by members of the public and the telecommunications industry in response to the Department’s final draft,” said Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia.

Governor Peter Shumlin made two key staff announcements today, appointing new secretaries to the agencies of Administration and Human Services. Justin Johnson, who currently serves as Deputy Secretary at the Agency of Natural Resources, will take over as Secretary of Administration. He will replace Jeb Spaulding who has served in that position since Shumlin first took office in 2011 and will become the next Chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges in January. Johnson’s appointment will take effect at the beginning of the year, though he is expected to begin the transition immediately.

Vermont Gas Systems and NG Advantage LLC have officially turned on Vermont’s first “gas island” on Exchange Street in Middlebury. This island consists of an Off-Loading Station and a small pipeline network that will connect the station to Agri-Mark’s Middlebury plant, Middlebury College, and several other large customers. Until the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project pipeline extension reaches Middlebury, natural gas will be delivered to the local network by NG Advantage LLC using its high-tech carbon fiber trailers. Once the Vermont Gas Systems pipeline reaches Middlebury, NG Advantage will move its Off-Loading Station and trucks to other customer sites.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report by the Vermont EPSCoR Adaptation to Climate Change in the Lake Champlain Basin (RACC) project found that Vermonters rank water quality as a top public policy priority and are willing to pay to improve the health of Vermont’s waterways. The report is based on surveys conducted in 2013 and 2014. More than 95 percent of respondents to the 2013 survey ranked water quality as either “moderately important” or “very important,” a higher percentage than for all other public issues in the survey, including preserving the working landscape and economic development.

Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Green Mountain, Inc, (NASDAQ: GMCR), the coffee and beverage company based in Waterbury, Vermont, today announced it has acquired the Laughing Man Coffee and Tea brand from Laughing Man Worldwide, LLC, based in New York City and co-founded by actor Hugh Jackman. Keurig will introduce Laughing Man's curated selection of gourmet coffees and teas to Keurig brand packs for use in Keurig brewers beginning in spring 2015. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.