Vermont Republican leaders are drafting a letter asking federal investigators to examine Gov. Peter Shumlin’s use of federal money for health care reforms. The House and Senate minority leaders want the Inspector General of the federal Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to review how federal money was spent on the Vermont Health Connect exchange and the development of the governor’s single payer program, as well as other reform initiative... Vermont has spent more than $100 million of predominantly federal money on the state health insurance exchange. The state also received a $45 million State Innovation Model (SIM) grant to work on ways to change how doctors and hospitals deliver medical services and how they are paid for those services. The Shumlin administration spent roughly $1.6 million in developing the now-deferred single payer proposal. Turner acknowledged that he’s unsure if any federal money was spent on that proposal. Lawrence Miller, Shumlin’s chief of Health Care Reform, said only state money has been spent on those efforts to this point, but the administration is exploring whether it can draw down federal money to cover those costs as part of the upcoming budget adjustment process.... Gruber’s contract was revised down to a maximum value of $280,000. Benning defended his focus on Gruber, saying the state can’t afford to waste any money given its poor revenue outlook and an anticipated $100 million budget deficit in the coming year. Payments and invoices on that contract lack much of the detail typically included in such documents. Benning said Hoffer should launch a full performance audit of the contract. Part of the reason for reaching out to the HHS Inspector General is that Hoffer has not agreed to a performance audit of Gruber’s contract, Benning said. Hoffer requested additional information from the Agency of Administration relating to those payments and invoices. Hoffer said Tuesday that Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding told him the state has requested more information from Gruber, and will provide that when it is received....
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 15:24:49 +0000
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