Eyes turn to Vermont as it sees success

MONTPELIER, VT. » A Vermont health care organization working to keep patients healthier while reducing costs is being closely watched because of its rate of success — it was within 1 percent of meeting its financial target in its first year and has now been expanded to cover about 18 percent of the state’s population, officials said.

Last year, OneCare Vermont covered about 24,000 Medicaid patients and now covers about 112,000 patients whose health care is provided through Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance.

The long-term goal is to expand it so that about 70 percent of health care services provided in Vermont are covered by the system, which encourages patients to stay healthier using specialized care, such as helping them manage chronic conditions like diabetes so they don’t wind up needing more ex-

pensive treatment. Officials consider 70 percent a realistic goal.

Twelve states have Medicaid programs using variations of the model being used in Vermont, and another nine are planning them, said John McDonough, a health care policy expert at the Harvard

T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Vermont’s is an important and watched experiment among state health policy experts,” said McDonough, who noted the state’s effort is being discussed in health care journals , at conferences and among experts. He called being within 1 percent of the financial target “an impressive and important achievement.”

In a switch from when providers were paid for each

service performed, providers are allocated a set amount of money to cover the people in the program. This year, $580 million has been allocated to OneCare Vermont, an organization of health care providers tasked by the state with carrying out the spirit of the program.

It’s essentially an incentive for doctors and the companies that employ them. There are limits to both the risk and the possible benefit,

but when the care costs less than the amount allocated, providers can keep the difference. Conversely, when it costs more, they have to make up for it.

In addition to traditional health care, such programs also focus on “social determinants of health,” such as housing, transportation and nutrition, which frequently have more to do with health than available medical care, McDonough said.