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Because Vermont school districts on average provide health insurance at what would be considered a "Platinum Plus" plan now, if they transitioned to a Vermont Health Connect "Gold" level plan, it would result in premium savings for school districts of almost $39 million if the current 14 percent employee premium contribution were continued. The Vermont School Boards Association has just released a report detailing the financial impact of health care reform on Vermont’s school districts. This issue is the perfect nexus between two of our state’s most pressing policy issues—the implementation of health care reform and rising property tax rates.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The federal government will not make direct payments from Medicare to Vermont, according to state officials, countering campaign season claims that the Shumlin administration wants to take over Medicare as part of single-payer. Act 48, the 2011 law that sets Vermont on a course toward single-payer, created a framework for Green Mountain Care — as the program is known — to absorb Medicare, but only with federal approval. Robin Lunge, director of Health Care Reform, said unequivocally Monday that it won’t happen.

“Federal law does not permit us to get the cash,” she said.

Vermont Business Magazine Opponents of the natural gas pipeline under construction in Chittenden and Addison counties occupied the lobby area outside Governor Peter Shumlin's office in Montpelier late Monday afternoon. Police arrested 64 of the protesters and cited them for trespassing. Police reported that the protest was without incident. Vermont State Police reported that, in conjunction with several other law enforcement agencies, it monitored the events of the scheduled protest throughout the day. Late in the afternoon law enforcement was notified that protestors had made their way into the Pavilion Building on 109 State Street in Montpelier. The protesters proceeded upstairs without authorization and occupied the lobby of the governor’s office on the fifth floor. Other protestors remained on the first floor of the building, near the elevators.

Toby Sadkin, MD, a family medicine physician practicing in St Albans, is the recipient of the 2014 Physician Executive of the Year Award from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), a national association for medical practice executives and leaders. In addition to seeing patients full-time at St. Albans Primary Care, Dr. Sadkin is the Executive Committee chair at Primary Care Health Partners (PCHP), a group of eight primary care offices located in Vermont and upstate New York. She is the managing partner of PCHP’s Vermont offices, located in Brattleboro, Burlington, Bennington, South Burlington, and St. Albans. PCHP is the largest physician-owned primary care organization in Vermont.

The Brattleboro Retreat will present the hospital’s 2014 Anna Marsh Award to Vermont State Representative Bill Lippert of Hinesburg at the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus event to be held on Saturday, November 1 at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro. Representative Lippert has served in the Vermont Legislature since his initial appointment by Governor Howard Dean in 1994.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Executives at Vermont hospitals faced with paying back hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases millions, to Medicare say the repayments weaken their financial positions, but won’t have a direct impact on patient services. The repayments are the result of Medicare enforcing a 2012 policy change that many hospital executives say was unexpected. The policy change has been applied retroactively to 2010. The Vermont Association for Hospitals and Health Systems estimates the total impact on 10 Vermont hospitals at $12 million to $14 million.

Most affected hospitals have been aware of the possible Medicare repayments for some time and accounted for them in their recently approved 2015 budgets, according to the 10 hospital chief financial officers who were interviewed for this story.

But the repayments will leave hospitals with less cash on hand to deal with unexpected costs.

UHC has announced the winners of the 2014 UHC Supply Chain Performance Excellence Award, UHC Supplier Diversity Leadership Award, and UHC Sustainability Award at the UHC Annual Conference 2014 in Las Vegas. Fletcher Allen Health Care, based in Burlington, was one of six awardees from across the country.

2014 UHC Supply Chain Performance Excellence Award

Honored for excellence in supply chain management, the UHC Supply Chain Performance Excellence Award winners are:

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc (NYSE: BHLB) reported a 5 percent increase in core earnings per share to $0.46 in the third quarter of 2014 from $0.44 in the prior quarter. Berkshire Hills is the parent company of Berkshire Bank, with offices in southern Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. Third quarter core EPS advanced by 7 percent year-over-year. Berkshire continues to generate higher revenue as it builds business volumes across its regional markets. GAAP EPS was $0.48 in the third quarter of 2014 and $0.46 in the prior quarter, reflecting the $0.02 per share quarterly benefit of a lower GAAP tax rate that resulted from non-core branch acquisition related costs in the first quarter.

THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (comparisons are to prior quarter):

The Vermont Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (GCEPD) has announced the first employer award recipients for the “Spirit of the ADA” Awards to commemorate National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The Vermont “Spirit of the ADA” Award is given to employers who reflect the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act in their employment practices. Successfully meeting any of the following criteria qualifies employers for eligibility to be nominated:

Attorney General William H Sorrell has joined the Attorneys General of New York and Connecticut in a petition challenging the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) over its recent rule on the continued storage of spent nuclear fuel. There is no federal repository for the highly radioactive fuel. All the spent fuel at every US nuclear plant is still stored on-site, even at those that have been closed.

Governor Peter Shumlin joined Mayor Chris Louras, transportation officials and legislators at the Ripley Bridge to highlight the latest in a series of transportation improvement projects in Rutland City. In a year that has seen major infrastructure projects involving close cooperation between The Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and municipal teams, the Ripley and Dorr bridges are the latest example of the state working with downtowns to provide the infrastructure needed to sustain commerce and quality of life. The Ripley and Dorr bridges are estimated to cost $5.5 million and $8.3 million respectively. This pair of bridges, combined with the $10.5million in paving and other downtown improvements are just part of the $685.7 million Transportation Bill that makes up one of the biggest construction years in the history of VTrans.

by Bill Schubart We can’t keep doing things the way we are in education. The costs are unsustainable and results are questionable, especially as connectivity, content distribution, and career options evolve. It’s not just about the money. While we must have a discussion about educational goals and measurements, educational architecture must also be simplified. The terms nursery, kindergarten, grade school, middle school, junior high, and high school need to be abandoned along with their dubious graduation ceremonies. They’re outmoded and distract from the natural continuum of childhood development.

We must start by pushing educational investment down in age and understand the transition to college differently. The catch-all term “college” no longer imparts any meaning to that educational period in a young person’s life.