By Guy Page

The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) ruled this month to reduce 2026 Vermont hospital spending by $94.5 million less than requested by the state’s hospitals. The reduction reflects a firm decision not to allow Vermont’s healthcare dollars to subsidize the operations of the University of Vermont (UVM) Health Network’s New York hospitals.

These hospitals include Champlain Valley Physicians’ Hospital in Plattsburgh, and Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, and Elizabethtown Community Hospital. UVMMC’s Vermont hospitals are the flagship UVMMC in Burlington, Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, and Central VT Hospital in Berlin, as well as two home health and hospice networks.

The GMCB is the state regulator for hospitals and other health care organizations. The decison holds aggregate net patient revenue (NPR) growth at Vermont’s 14 general hospitals within the 3.5% benchmark set in the FY26 Hospital Budget Guidance. 

The Board evaluated each hospital’s financial health, cost-containment efforts, and community needs in light of Vermont’s ongoing health care affordability challenges, including double-digit premium increases and significant expense growth since the pandemic, according to a September 12 September 12 GMCB press release. 

Key points cited by the GMCB include:

• Concerns over UVMMC’s Finances: The GMCB expressed deep concern that the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) lacks full control over its finances.

• Out-of-State Asset Transfers: Board members noted that the UVM Health Network has “shifted significant assets away from Vermont’s flagship institution for use outside the state”.

• Accountability for UVM Health Network: The GMCB’s decisions specifically hold the UVM Health Network administration accountable for “having transferred critical dollars out of Vermont to cover for the Network’s inability to sustainably operate its New York hospitals”.

• Prevention of Subsidies: Owen Foster, Chair of the GMCB, explicitly stated, “We will not allow the Health Network administration to use Vermont’s limited healthcare dollars to subsidize its inability to obtain adequate reimbursement for its critical New York hospitals”.

• Targeted Modifications to UVMMC’s Budget: As a result, the Board approved UVMMC’s FY26 budget with “targeted modifications to ensure Vermont dollars remain focused on Vermont patients”. This included setting UVMMC’s commercial rate growth below its original request, aligning with statewide affordability targets and directly addressing the Health Network’s history of transferring Vermont healthcare dollars out of state.