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Financial struggles have pushed Vermont’s largest health insurer to the brink – VTDigger

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Financial struggles have pushed Vermont’s largest health insurer to the brink – VTDigger


Don George, president and CEO of BlueCross BlueShield Vermont, listens during a roundtable on health care costs hosted by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in Burlington on Friday, May 31, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Over the past several months, Vermont lawmakers and state officials have been preoccupied with the fate of the state’s largest health insurance company. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the Vermont-based member of the nationwide health insurance organization, is also the only health insurance company based in Vermont. The nonprofit covers roughly a third of the state’s population across all its plans. 

Now, with its reserves drained by a multi-year surge in insurance claims, the nonprofit is facing a financial crisis with little recent precedent. As Blue Cross Blue Shield prepares to ask state regulators to increase premiums in 2026, the financial health of the company has alarmed policymakers and prompted a scramble to shore up the company.

“If Blue Cross cannot pay the claims, the system fails,” Owen Foster, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, a key health care regulator, told lawmakers last month. 

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Federally qualified health centers, independent clinics, mental health agencies, possibly even hospitals — “if they don’t get paid, they close their doors,” Foster said.  

The financial headwinds facing Blue Cross Blue Shield are familiar to many in Vermont’s health system. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals and other providers have seen a surge of patients, many presenting with more complex conditions. What’s more, the price of care — particularly drugs, and more particularly specialty drugs, like popular weight-loss medications known as GLP-1s — has increased precipitously in the past few years. 

That’s led to unexpected increases in health care expenditures across the state. In both 2023 and 2024, for example, the University of Vermont Medical Center exceeded its budgets by tens of millions of dollars — overages that, hospital administrators said, were caused by a massive surge in patients needing more care.

That surge has, in turn, drained Blue Cross Blue Shield’s cash reserves. From 2021 through the end of 2024, Blue Cross Blue Shield has lost nearly $152 million, according to data the insurer presented to legislators earlier this month. Last year alone, Blue Cross lost $62.1 million.

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In 2019, the insurer had $133.5 million in the bank. At the end of 2024, Blue Cross Blue Shield had just $58 million — and pays out an average of $35 million a week in claims.

Last year, credit rating agency A.M. Best downgraded Blue Cross Blue Shield’s rating twice, bringing its score from B++ to C++. That’s moved the insurer’s rating from “good” to “marginal” in a matter of less than six months.

“I’ve lived and worked in Vermont for 45 years,” Don George, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield, told lawmakers in the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare last month. “And I’ve just never seen anything remotely close to what we’re going through now.” 

‘We’re fortunate’

A significant chunk of those losses have come from Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Medicare Advantage plans, Vermont Blue Advantage. From 2019 through 2023, Blue Cross Blue Shield lost $43.4 million on those plans, according to financial records. Roughly 35,000 Vermonters are on Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Advantage plans, Sara Teachout, a spokesperson for the insurer, said. 

Some of those early losses were startup costs ahead of the plans’ rollout in 2021, Teachout said. Once they hit the market, the plans continued to lose money — $11.5 million in 2022 and $22.5 million in 2023 — along with the rest of the insurer’s portfolio, records show.  

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Those deficits are due to the same factors affecting the rest of Blue Cross Blue Shield’s generally, Teachout said: a rise in residents needing care and increasing costs for that care.

Those losses “are proportionate to the losses in our other lines of businesses that are due to the cost surge,” she said. 

To shield itself from those losses, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont has almost entirely unloaded its Medicare Advantage business onto Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, an affiliate nonprofit insurer. It’s also taken out a $30 million loan from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont headquarters in Berlin. VTDigger file photo

Because of its shaky financial footing, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont is paying 8% interest on that Michigan loan. George, the CEO, said in an interview that the insurer was lucky to have even gotten a loan in the first place.

“The reality is, we would likely — under those circumstances and that risk — not be able to find anyone that would loan Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (money),” he said. “So we’re fortunate to have Michigan, and that’s how we come up with that interest rate.”

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To shore up its finances, the insurer has also held off hiring roughly for 30 positions and has embarked on a “comprehensive capital recovery plan” with the Department of Financial Regulation, according to George. 

‘The number one cost driver’

As part of an annual regulatory process, Blue Cross Blue Shield is preparing to request increases to its insurance premiums later this month — increases that are expected to be large. Last year, the insurer raised premiums for individual and small group plans on the state’s health insurance marketplace by roughly 20%. 

For 2026, “Given the pace of medical and pharmacy costs and the utilization that we saw right through to the end of 2024, I would expect increases not unlike what we’ve recently seen in the past,” Ruth Greene, the insurer’s chief financial officer, said in March. 

Those increases impact not only individual Vermonters’ insurance costs — already some of the highest in the nation — but also their taxes. Most municipalities buy small group insurance plans on the state health insurance market, according to Ted Brady, the executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. 

Prior to last year’s premium increases, roughly 80% of municipal employees were insured with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brady said, although he now expects that many municipalities have switched to MVP, the other insurer that sells on the marketplace.

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“Health insurance is the number one cost driver for municipalities right now,” he said.

School and state employees are also insured on Blue Cross plans, but are on a different type of plan known as self-funded plans. Although those organizations have also seen significant premium increases as health care costs rise, members contribute proportionally less to Blue Cross’ reserves — meaning they are more insulated from the insurer’s financial struggles, administrators at those organizations say. 

Still, increasing insurance premiums are “a tremendous economic strain on every part of Vermont,” Vermont’s Chief Health Care Advocate Mike Fisher told lawmakers last month. 

‘Acute and immediate threat’

Meanwhile, policymakers and legislators are taking steps on their own. In March, the Green Mountain Care Board, a key health care regulator, announced a deal with the University of Vermont Health Network that will deliver $12 million in hospital funds to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont. 

Lawmakers are also hashing out the details of a bill that would allow for emergency action to help health insurers in financial crisis. That bill, H. 482, would allow the Green Mountain Care Board to reduce the reimbursement rates paid to a Vermont hospital if the insurer in question faces “an acute and immediate threat to its solvency.” 

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Such a rate reduction would only be allowed if the hospital is part of a financially stable network, according to the bill language. 

The proposed legislation passed out of the House in March. A key legislative committee, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, is scheduled to vote on advancing it Friday. 

Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, presides as chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Meanwhile, in the other chamber, the House’s health committee is looking to address the problem of rising costs closer to their source — at hospitals and other providers. 

A sprawling bill, S.126, would implement a new payment model known as reference-based pricing, in which hospital charges are pegged to Medicare reimbursement rates, to go into effect no later than 2027. The bill would also direct the Agency of Human Services to work with providers to reduce health care spending by 5% “for hospital fiscal year 2026,” which begins October 1.

That bill passed the Senate in March, and lawmakers in the House Health Care Committee are working on amendments this week. 

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“There’s a lot of work that has to be done,” Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, said of her committee’s legislation last month. “We can’t let Blue Cross and Blue Shield go under.”





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Capitol Recap: Act 181 debate pokes at the heart of Vermont’s rural-urban dynamics

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Capitol Recap: Act 181 debate pokes at the heart of Vermont’s rural-urban dynamics


This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.

The Vermont Senate passed a bill on Thursday that will delay the implementation of Act 181, a contentious 2024 law that overhauled the state’s land use permitting system.

But that vote followed several rounds of heated debate over rolling back or further postponing land conservation measures, fueled by a Tuesday protest attended by hundreds of rural landowners who called on lawmakers to repeal the law altogether.

The sparring over Act 181 has surfaced a rural-urban divide at the Statehouse. Rural conservatives argue that the law’s benefits flow only to Vermont’s larger cities and towns, and that its conservation rules place an undue burden on private property owners. Democrats have defended the law’s goals to both boost housing in downtowns and villages and increase environmental protections elsewhere, though they’ve heeded calls to pump the brakes.

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Details: Vermont is overhauling Act 250. Here’s what the development maps look like so far

On the Senate floor, Republicans contended that new development regulations set forth in Act 181, which bolster protections over sensitive ecosystems, effectively undermine personal property rights. Sen. Steve Heffernan, R-Addison, framed the issue around affordability — wealthy second home-owners can afford more land-use permits, he said, but regular Vermonters can’t.

“We must ask ourselves … are we protecting Vermont’s lands, or pricing Vermonters out of it?” Heffernan said.

Brian Stevenson

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Sen. Steve Heffernan, R-Addison, photographed in January 2025. Heffernan framed the Act 181 issue around affordability.

Democrats, who control the chamber, countered that the new rules are critical for preserving Vermont’s landscape for the good of the broader community.

“Future generations may not have the same ecosystems that we have access to because of development,” said Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor.

The bill in question, S.325, is a set of tweaks to Act 181, which the Legislature passed over Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s objections two years ago.

Act 181 aimed to encourage more homebuilding in already-developed areas of Vermont by removing state level review under Act 250, Vermont’s signature land use law. At the same time, the law beefed up protections for to-be-determined critical natural resources.

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The 2024 law mandated a first-of-its-kind mapping effort that will essentially dictate where future development will be subject to Act 250 scrutiny, and where it won’t be, through a tiered land-use classification system.

That mapping process is still underway, and the board overseeing it has asked for more time to complete its work — in part because of feedback from municipal officials and rural residents who objected to early drafts.

S.325 would postpone the implementation of many pieces of Act 181. It would extend temporary housing exemptions, delay the start of a new “road rule” that would require a permit for private road construction over a certain length in much of the state until 2030 and pushes out the beginning of new “Tier 3” rules. These rules would heighten scrutiny over building near headwater streams, habitat connectors and rare natural communities.

A man wearing a suit sits at the end of a table. Two other men can be seen in the foreground

Brian Stevenson

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Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex District, chairs a meeting of the Senate Committee on Agriculture on Jan. 28, 2025.

The fate of Tier 3 garnered the most attention on the Senate floor. Republicans backed an amendment on Wednesday to scrap the tier entirely.

Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, a cosponsor of the amendment and an organizer of Tuesday’s rally, argued that the entirety of his Northeast Kingdom district would fall into the tier and suggested that a majority of Vermonters currently live in Tier 3 areas.

“We should be able to live like the rest of Vermont does, and not be restricted,” Ingalls said.

Yet the bounds of Tier 3 have not yet been set, and the Land Use Review Board, which is creating its boundaries, has said the tier will only make up a small portion of land in Vermont. The board is also looking to limit what kinds of construction would trigger the need for an Act 250 permit in these zones.

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“It may be that a single house, for instance, depending on where it is, doesn’t even matter. It won’t be counted,” said Sen. Seth Bongartz, D-Bennington, one of the architects of Act 181 when he served in the House.

The amendment to roll back Tier 3 ultimately failed in a party-line vote on Wednesday. A separate amendment to further delay its implementation failed on Thursday. Another Republican-backed amendment that was adopted eases state regulations for housing in rural areas that lack local zoning.

“We absolutely hear the concerns from different corners of the state of Vermont and we take those seriously.”

House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington

Scott, Act 181’s longest-standing detractor, vetoed the legislation in 2024, arguing that it was a “conservation bill” that did little to boost housing growth in rural areas. The governor said at a Thursday press conference that he thinks the bill to delay its implementation is “moving in the right direction, but we need more.”

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Scott was pleased to see protesters this week heeding his message.

“I’ve said this before: this hurts rural Vermont. And now they’re just waking up to the fact that, yes, indeed, it will,” Scott said.

The bill now heads to the House. House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said she sees the need to delay Act 181 — and that she hears the upswell of pushback against the law from beyond the Statehouse.

“We absolutely hear the concerns from different corners of the state of Vermont and we take those seriously,” Krowinski said.

A woman sits at a table

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Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, is chair of the House Committee on Environment. Photographed at the Statehouse on Feb. 5, 2025.

S.325 will land in the House environment committee, helmed by Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, one of Act 181’s initial drafters. Sheldon understands the rationale to postpone pieces of its implementation, she said in a Wednesday interview. But she is not open to rolling back elements of the 2024 law.

Sheldon believes that some of the arguments raised by opponents of the law are overstated and misguided. She still stands by the core aims of the law, she said, gesturing toward Vermont’s state motto.

“We’re balancing freedom and unity, right? That’s what we do,” Sheldon said.

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46 anti-Trump No Kings protests planned in Vermont. How to go

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46 anti-Trump No Kings protests planned in Vermont. How to go


Vermonters protest against deportations, stand in solidarity with LA

Vermonters marched up Church Street in solidarity of Los Angeles protestors and against the federal government’s immigration policies June 10.

Large scale anti-Trump protests are coming to Vermont for a third time, with at least 46 No Kings protests planned across the state for March 28.

This round of No Kings protests might be the biggest so far: organizers anticipate it’ll be “one of the largest single-day nonviolent nationwide protests in U.S. history,” with more than 3,000 events already planned across the country on March 28.

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“As President Trump escalates his attempts to control us, it is on us, the people, to show that we will fight to protect one another and our country,” the “No Kings” website says. “If he believes we will roll over and allow him to take our freedoms, he is mistaken. We are coming together again on March 28 because we know we can overcome this repression when we unite.”

In Vermont, protests are being held in all corners of the state, from Bennington to Newport. There are about six protests listed in Burlington, including a march to City Hall, a New North End Honk and Wave and a rally at the intersection of Shelburne Rd and Hannaford Drive.

Here’s what to know ahead of the protests.

What are ‘No Kings’ protests and what does it mean?

In June 2025, large crowds of Vermont residents took part in the first round of “No Kings Day” protests, planned the same day as the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary celebration and the president’s birthday.

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Another wave of nationwide “No Kings” protests came several months later in October, in which over seven million Americans joined events in all 50 states, according to the organization. In Burlington, thousands of protesters brought homemade signs protesting Trump, dressed in colorful inflatable costumes, played music and chanted.

Organizers behind the No Kings protests say that it is a “peaceful movement” to push back on President Donald Trump’s policies, including on immigration, foreign policy and the economy.

“With every ICE raid, every escalation abroad, and every abuse of power at home, Americans are rising up in opposition to Trump’s attempt to rule through fear and force. Each day Trump crosses a new red line, and more people are deciding they’ve had enough,” said Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the many organizations backing the mass protests.

Others include American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn and 50501.

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No Kings protests near me: See events, rallies in Vermont

As of 2 p.m. on March 26, there were 46 No Kings events planned in Rhode Island for March 28. Some towns and cities are holding multiple events.

Here’s a list of events in Burlington:

  • Burlington New North End Honk and Wave: 11a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 1127 North Ave, Burlington
    • “Invite your friends and neighbors and meet up at 11 a.m. at 1127 North Avenue along the sidewalks at the entrances of the Ethan Allen Shopping Plaza (home to Hannaford Supermarket and many other shops). Bring your signs, banners, noise makers, and American flags,” the listing reads. “This joyous, non-violent honk and wave action will wrap up at 12:30 p.m. Following the Honk and Wave, participants are welcome to proceed to City Hall Park to join the conclusion of the North End and South End marches.”
  • Patchen Road Overpass: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Patchen Road & Landfill Road, South Burlington
    • “We’ll be unfurling our huge NO KINGS banners on the overpass as 4,000 – 5,000 vehicles per hours pass below on Interstate 89. Bring a sign, bring an American flag, and bring a friend,” reads the listing. It says to register and to follow the guidance of safety marshals, and encourages attendees to carpool as “parking is tight.”
  • Burlington South End March: 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Calahan Park, 45 Locust St, Burlington
    • “We’ll be marching from Calahan Park to City Hall Park,” says the event description. “If you don’t want to march or are unable please join us at City Hall park at 12:30 p.m. for singing, chanting and more.”
  • South Burlington: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Intersection of Shelburne Rd and Hannaford Dr in South Burlington, 1001 Shelburne Rd, South Burlington, VT
    • “Join Champlain Valley Indivisible at the intersection of Shelburne Rd and Hannaford Drive in South Burlington to stand up and speak out against this administration’s unjust and cruel acts of violence,” the event listing says, adding that those interested should register.
  • Burlington March to City Hall: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 1 S Prospect St., Burlington
  • Burlington Old North End March: 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Roosevelt Park, 57 Oak St., Burlington
    • “We’ll be marching from Roosevelt park to City Hall Park,” the listing says. “If you don’t want to march or are unable please join us at City Hall park at 12:30 p.m. for singing, chanting and more.”

Here’s a list of all the towns in Vermont holding protests so far, plus when, where and other helpful information listed on the event pages or provided in press releases:

  • Bellow Falls
  • Bennington
  • Bradford
  • Brandon
  • Brattleboro
  • Burlington
  • Charlotte
  • Chester
  • Essex Junction
  • Fair Haven
  • Fairfax
  • Hardwick
  • Hartford
  • Huntington
  • Jericho
  • Manchester
  • Middlebury
  • Milton
  • Milton
  • Montpelier
  • Morrisville
  • Newbury
  • Newport
  • Northfield
  • Randolph
  • Randolph
  • Richmond
  • Rutland
  • Saint Johnsbury
  • Shelburne
  • South Burlington
  • South Burlington
  • St. Albans
  • Wallingford
  • Waterbury
  • Westfield
  • Williston
  • Wilmington
  • Windsor
  • Winooski
  • Wolcott
  • Woodstock

More events may be planned. You can check the map on the No Kings website to see if your town is holding a protest.

What time are No Kings events?

“No Kings” protests in Vermont start at various times on March 28, with some events planned at 10 a.m. and others planned throughout the afternoon, according to the online map of events.

Contributing: Paris Barraza

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Vermont Sports Hall of Fame adds two members to 2026 induction class

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Vermont Sports Hall of Fame adds two members to 2026 induction class


An international ambassador for tennis from South Burlington and a three-sport captain at Burlington High School and the University of Vermont more than 100 years ago are the final members for the 2026 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame banquet, the organization announced in a news release on Thursday, March 26.

Jake Agna, the former legendary tennis coach at South Burlington High School, is the 2026 David Hakins inductee, which honors an individual or a group or organization for exceptional promotion of sports, athletics and recreation in the state. Fenwick Watkins, a pioneer and exceptional athlete and coach who helped break color barriers in sports in the early 1900s, has been named the hall’s historic inductee.

Agna and Watkins join 10 other members previously announced this year who will officially be enshrined during a celebration banquet at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on 1117 Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, April 25.

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The dinner begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony. To purchase tickets to the 2026 event, visit the VSHOF website at vermontsportshall.com. The cost is $95 per plate with part of the proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the longtime designated charity for VSHOF.  

Over 38 years coaching girls tennis at South Burlington, Agana compiled a 489-95 record with eight perfect seasons, 16 Division I titles and 13 runner-up trophies before stepping down prior to the 2023 season.

Agna is also founded Kids on the Ball in 2000, which is designed to teach children life lessons such as relationships and respect by learning the game of tennis. He has led 31 trips to Cuba to help expand the sport. His tennis programs reach out to over 200 kids each day in school and after school programs.

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Agna’s work to help resurface 10 courts and renovation of the National Tennis Center in Cuba in 2017 was recognized by the Tennis Channel.

Watkins was a three-sport star in football, basketball, baseball at Burlington before graduating in 1905. At UVM, he is believed to be the first Black captain of a non-historical Black college or university sport and was captain for all three sports at both BHS and UVM, according to VSHOF.

After UVM, Watkins went on to become a high school and college head coach in North Dakota at Concordia College (football) and what is now known as North Dakota State (baseball and football). He died in 1943.

The previous winners for the Hakins award are: Barry Stone (2024); Thomas Dunkley (2023); Ted Ryan (2022); Cochran’s Ski Area, Mickey & Ginny Cochran (2020); Mal Boright (2019); Helmut Lenes (2017); Ernie Farrar (2015); Tom Curley (2014) and Ray Pecor (2013).

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The previous historic winners include: Leo Papineau, St. Michael’s College, athlete, coach and official (2025); Clarence Demar, South Hero, distance running, (2017); Fred Harris, Brattleboro, outdoors/ski jumping, (2015); James Taylor, Windsor, outdoors, (2014); and Charles Adams, Newport, National Hockey League, (2013).

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.





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