Vermont Gets OK for Medicaid Program

Vermont Gets OK for Medicaid Program

By ROSS SNEYD, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 38 minutes ago

MONTPELIER, Vt. - A growing inability to pay ever-increasing Medicaid
costs has forced Vermont into an innovative deal with the federal
government that critics fear could jeopardize a safety net dating back
to the Great Society.

Gov. James Douglas says he's confident his Global Commitment to Health,
in which the state has agreed to accept caps to federal Medicaid
funding over the next five years, will give state officials
unprecedented flexibility to manage the health insurance program for
the poor and begin to control costs. The program went into effect
Saturday, with the start of the federal fiscal year.

States across the country, as well as officials in the Bush
administration and a congressional commission, are watching Vermont's
approach because it could provide a road map for reforming an
entitlement program whose costs have risen beyond most governments'
ability to pay.

A pending agreement calls for total Medicaid spending in Vermont to
be no more than $4.7 billion over the next five years, with roughly
60 percent of the bill being paid by Washington. The Douglas
administration and the Legislature estimate spending will total only
$4.2 billion.