By David Mickenberg
- Choices for Care (CFC): CFC is Vermont’s long-term care (LTC) program for low to moderate-income elders and adults with disabilities. It provides for both nursing home and home-and community-based care for those with financial and clinical needs for the same. The program has been very successful in giving Vermonters a choice as to where to receive services and in saving the state significant dollars.
The administration continues to work on the issue of delays in CFC eligibility determinations, based on language that COVE worked to get included in the budget. So far the Administration has conducted two meetings with the Long Term Care Ombudsman. They are in the process of collecting data and report that trend lines look positive on the issue. However, they are far from the point of showing advocates data or from revealing a plan to remediate the issue, as required by law. The next meeting on this issue will be in October. COVE should affirmatively reach out to the Administration to relay its concerns and suggestions.
The Administration seems to be just getting started on its study of reimbursement rates for Long Term Care (LTC) providers. We are hoping that this study will help shed light on the fact that LTC Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) providers have been chronically under-funded for years. Again, COVE should affirmatively reach out to the administration to provide input.
In October, the administration will present its required needs assessment for CFC. COVE should monitor this process and push the administration to use as much as possible of the CFC savings that are available for programmatic improvements, including restoration of the Enhanced Residential Care (ERC) case management funds that were cut in last year’s budget.
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): The federal LIHEAP provides assistance paying for home heating for people of all ages, including many elders whose household income does not exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
Since the administration’s recent announcement that there was a $21 million surplus in the FY 15 budget, the Joint Fiscal Committee took action to spend $5 million of these funds to keep Vermonters’ LIHEAP benefits level funded for this year. That supplemental funding was necessary because the money that had been in the state budget for the previous years was removed last winter during the budget process. COVE and its partners will continue to push the legislature to put the State’s portion of LIHEAP funding back into the underlying budget so that Vermonters know that they can count on these funds being available.
- Observation Status:
After Vermont’s observation status legislation went into effect, federal legislation was passed. The federal bill requires that Medicare patients who have been in the hospital on outpatient status for more than 24 hours receive notice of their status and are given information to make it clear what the implications of this status are. That is a positive step forward for this important issue. Next year the VT legislature will be looking at whether or not a similar notice requirement should be in place for patients who are not on Medicare.
- Natural Burial Grounds:
Legislation that COVE has long supported concerning natural burial grounds went into effect in Vermont over the summer. The legislation would allow people to be buried without the chemical process and vaults that are now commonplace. Vermont has now taken a lead across the country in allowing for such burials. Here is a VPR story about the issue and the bill: http://digital.vpr.net/post/new-vermont-law-allows-creation-green-cemeteries
- Paid Sick Days:
Last year the House passed a bill to mandate that businesses provide up to 5 sick days to employees who have qualified by working sufficient hours. The bill failed to move in the Senate last year, but is poised to be taken up this year. It got a boost of support from Governor Shumlin and Speaker Shap Smith, who recently appeared at a press conference where they spoke in favor of passing the legislation currently up for consideration: http://www.wcax.com/story/29887472/paid-sick-time-advocates-rally-in-burlington. While much of the focus is often on young families, COVE supports the legislation because it will benefit older workers as well, and it allows time off to care for elder family members or grandchildren.
EXPLANATION OF LEGISLATIVE JARGONESE:
“Crossover” is a date by which all bills have to be voted out of committee in order to have a reasonable chance or being acted on by the other body. The 2015 crossover date was March 13. Bills that miss crossover may be taken up by the other body if a prior agreement was made and/or with approval of the governing rules committee. (Crossover for bills in money committees was a week later – March 20 in 2015.)
If you go to the bill links noted in this report and view a bill that has been amended, the crossed-off language has been deleted from the bill as introduced, and the underlined language has been added.
