MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont is moving ahead with the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) program.
After a 3-1 vote with one abstention, the Green Mountain Care Board joined Gov. Phil Scott and the Agency of Human Services in an agreement to change the way Vermont runs Medicare and Medicaid.
When AHEAD is implemented, hospitals will be paid a fixed total amount of Medicare and Medicaid money instead of for each service.
The decision comes on the heels of Vermont’s all-payer model which the Green Mountain Care Board says did little to help Vermont’s hospital system in crisis.
“If the all-payer model taught us anything it’s that assessing likely model outcomes is nearly impossible, and foreseeing unintended consequences is unachievable. Moreover implementing and operationalizing a policy of this nature is exceedingly difficult,” said Owen Foster, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board.
Critics say there’s not enough evidence to prove the model would actually cut costs and the burden of overhauling the federal payment system may be too big to bear.