Health care, pensions, among programs targeted for cuts in Vermont governor’s budget proposal

Vermont gov’s budget would hit range of programs

In his final budget address to lawmakers, Gov. Jim Douglas on Tuesday called for cuts to a range of state programs to address a $150 million gap between revenues and expenditures. Among those affected would be:

— Participants in the state’s publicly subsidized Catamount health care programs, who would see their annual deductibles jump from $250 to $1200 per patient. Douglas aides said the increase would not affect children, who are covered under a different program, and would apply to hospitalizations and surgeries but not basic services like annual medical checkups.

— Frequent users of some health care services. The state for the first time would cap the emergency room visits it would pay for at 12 per year per patient. New caps also would be placed on occupational, physical and speech therapy, with the state paying for up to 30 visits per year combined for those services.

— Middle-income property taxpayers. Vermonters with household incomes up to $90,000 per year now have their school property taxes capped at 1.8 percent of their incomes, with the state picking up the rest. That would still be the cap for households earning up to $60,000. Those between $60,000 and $75,000 would have the state pick up a property tax bill exceeding 2.25 percent of their income. Those between $75,000 and $90,000 would pay up to 3.5 percent before the state chipped in.

— Nursing homes and their least sick residents. The governor’s budget proposes reducing the amounts paid to Vermont’s 39 nursing homes to reimburse them for caring for less sick residents. The state has been pushing for more care outside of nursing homes when that is possible. Douglas aides said the new cuts would create incentives for care of elder Vermonters in less intensive settings.

— Schools and teachers. Douglas said Vermont’s public school enrollment had declined 11.5 percent since 1997, while school staff had grown 23 percent. He wants to change Vermont’s lowest-in-the-nation student-teacher ratio from 10.8 to 1 to 13 to 1, still below the national average of 15.5 to 1.

— State workers. Their union recently agreed to a new contract calling for 3 percent pay cuts to take effect in July. That will save the state about $5.5 million.

— State workers and teachers also would be affected by about $29 million in savings Douglas is seeking from their pension systems.