Vermont
Vermont officials estimate 45,000 people to lose health insurance under Trump’s tax bill – VTDigger
The sweeping Republican tax and spending bill that cleared the U.S. House Thursday could cause about 45,000 people in Vermont to lose health insurance in the coming years, state officials say. The bill is now heading to President Donald Trump for a sign-off.
In order to pay for key parts of Trump’s domestic agenda included in the legislation, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” GOP budget-writers are counting on proposed cuts to Medicaid, the shared federal and state program that funds insurance for people with low incomes.
Meanwhile, the bill has sparked concern among hospital leaders in Vermont over a provision that would limit how much state governments can tax health care providers such as hospitals to, ultimately, access more federal Medicaid funding. Vermont, like most other states, relies on these taxes to fund expanded benefits for Medicaid recipients, which is a practice that helps support providers, too.
“The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is deeply concerning. I don’t think it’s beautiful, and I think it’s super harmful to Vermont,” said Mike Del Trecco, the president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, in an interview earlier this week.
President Donald Trump and his GOP allies in Congress have said the legislation would target waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid funding and have pointed to how the cuts would pay for policies such as breaks on taxes for tips and overtime pay. However, critics point to a Congressional Budget Office analysis showing the bill would boost the incomes of the country’s wealthiest households while costing the country’s poorest households more.
The legislation would result in about 12 million people across the country losing their health care coverage over the next decade across Medicaid and the commercial insurance marketplace, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which is a nonpartisan agency that scores the fiscal impacts of federal legislation.
One key provision in the bill would impose new requirements that certain people on Medicaid demonstrate that they are working in order to receive coverage. States will also be required to determine a participant’s eligibility for Medicaid every six months rather than every year, as they do now.
The fact that more people will have to fill out additional paperwork will lead some to fall off of coverage, according to Ashley Berliner, director of Medicaid policy for the state Agency of Human Services.
Berliner, in an interview, estimated that about 30,000 Vermonters will lose coverage because of that greater administrative burden. That makes up roughly half of the adults in Vermont who currently receive health insurance coverage under the expansion of Medicaid provided by the Affordable Care Act. That act, commonly called Obamacare, has significantly increased the number of people able to access health insurance.
Federal spending for those 30,000 people would equate to $205 million annually that would, as a result of the bill, no longer be coming into the state, Berliner said.
Meanwhile, she said, Vermont health officials believe an additional 15,000 people who purchase coverage on the commercial marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act will also lose coverage, at least in part because signing up for it will become more difficult. The budget bill doesn’t allow people to automatically reenroll in their current health care plan and shrinks the sign-up period for coverage by a month.
Historically, only about half of people respond to the agency when it requests additional information to verify people’s eligibility to be enrolled in Medicaid, Berliner said.
“When you ask people for additional information, they don’t fill it out and they fall off — the burden becomes too high and coverage is lost,” she said, adding that the picture is similar across the country, and GOP leaders are relying on the dropoff to help facilitate their proposed cuts.
Officials are also concerned about the impacts of a measure in the bill that would whittle down a long-standing mechanism states use to raise additional funds for Medicaid services by taxing health care providers. The rate of Vermont’s so-called provider tax, which is the name for that mechanism, would be reduced by 2.5% between 2028 and 2032. Vermont’s rate is currently set at the highest level allowed under existing law.
Cumulatively, over the period ending in 2032, Vermont is set to lose around $211 million from this change, counting both a loss of state dollars and additional federal Medicaid funding those dollars would allow the state to bring in, according to Berliner.
Hospitals will also feel pain from lost funding under these reductions, Del Trecco said.
Berliner added that she’s concerned by a measure in the bill that would ban state Medicaid payments for at least one year to health care nonprofits that offer abortions. This would include, notably, Planned Parenthood, which has clinics throughout Vermont.
One additional fallout, she said, could be shifting the costs of the reproductive healthcare those nonprofits provide in Vermont onto other providers.
All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation have criticized the impacts of the budget bill and voted against it.
Last week, before the Senate approved a version of the bill, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., released a report that his office said showed the bill would increase the number of uninsured people in every state in the country. In some states, the rate of uninsured people would nearly double.
The legislation would “devastate rural hospitals, community health centers and nursing homes throughout our country and cause a massive spike in uninsured rates in red states and blue states alike,” Sanders said in a press release last week.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., speaking on the Senate floor earlier this week, derided the potential impacts the bill would have on states with all political leanings.
“I want to repeat here: this is the bipartisan infliction of pain. This is real. This is real. And is the tax cut — largely directed to the very wealthy people — is it worth inflicting that kind of pain on so many, when the tax cut benefits so few?” he said.
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., voted against the bill Thursday when it was up for final approval.
“This Republican budget is far and away the cruelest piece of legislation I’ve seen in my career,” she said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “It’s an utter moral failure.”
What college towns are best for comedy? Burlington, says this comic
New York comic Geoffrey Asmus talked with the Free Press after his April 30 show and before his May 1-2 performances at the Vermont Comedy Club.
If you’re thinking about planning a day trip in the state of Vermont, why not go somewhere beautiful?
Yankee Magazine picked 12 of the most beautiful places to visit in New England in 2025, and picked two Vermont locations that are more than worth a visit.
“More than anything, look through these photos and then find their equal wherever you may travel in New England: villages, cities, woods, waterways, orchards, farms,” Yankee Magazine said. “Be alert for even the smallest moments of beauty.”
Here are Yankee Magazine’s picks for best Vermont places to visit in New England.
Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT
If you’re looking to walk through a paradise of color and warmth, this Yankee Magazine pick might be perfect for you.
What Yankee Magazine said about Shelburne Farms: “In a region of rocky soil and notoriously changeable weather, few things say resilience like gardens whose roots go back decades. Among New England’s horticultural gems are the gardens at Shelburne Farms, sited between Lake Champlain and the property’s 19th-century mansion turned inn. Created by the former lady of the manor, Lila O. Webb, they’ve been extensively restored—much to the delight of visitors to these verdant grounds more than a century onward.”
You can visit Shelburne Farms at 1611 Harbor Rd.
Burt Henry Covered Bridge in North Bennington, VT
Do you want to take your family out to a blast from the past? Then Yankee Magazine’s other Vermont pick for a best place to visit in New England might be for you.
What Yankee Magazine said about Burt Henry Covered Bridge: “Covered bridges weren’t built to star on calendars,” writes New Hampshire author Howard Mansfield in his 2016 book, Sheds. “They weren’t built to be pretty.” Yet the same structures that once were practical solutions to 19th-century problems—including this classic Town lattice truss bridge in North Bennington—are now scenic lures for 21st-century visitors.”
You can visit the Burt Henry Covered Bridge at 475 River Rd.
Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.
Vermont Green FC in USL League Two final: Maximilian Kissel winner
Maximilian Kissel played hero once more to lift Vermont Green FC to the USL League Two championship on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025.
The defending USL League Two champions, Vermont Green men’s team (2-0) returns to Virtue Field for the first time in the 2026 USL season on Friday against the Albany Rush (0-2).
The Vermont Green men’s team will play in front of another sold-out crowd after captivating the entire state during last year’s playoff run.
The Green enter the home opener undefeated after earning road wins against Seacoast United and Boston Bolts. Connor Miller has been an impactful new player for the Green, recording a goal and an assist in Vermont’s 4-1 win over Boston Bolts. The Cornell midfielder is the lone player to record multiple points for Vermont through two games.
For live updates from the Vermont Green men’s team’s home opener, see below. The most recent in-game updates will be displayed at the top:
Series history between Vermont Green and Albany Rush
These clubs will be meeting for the eighth time. Vermont leads the series 7-0. The Green won the team’s only meeting in 2025, 7-0, behind former captain Zach Zengue’s hat trick.
How to watch Vermont Green’s home opener?
If fans cannot make it to Virtue Field to watch from behind the north goal, the match will be streamed here. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Contact Judith Altneu at JAltneu@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @Judith_Altneu.
ESSEX — Vermont musician Troy Millette has postponed plenty of concerts because of illness, family obligations or bad weather.
Rain, sure. But ravens? Never, at least not until this week.
Millette’s May 30 show, which was set to open the outdoor season on The Old Stage at the Essex Experience, has been pushed back because ravens are nesting in the rafters. State and federal rules restrict what people can do to disturb the nests of birds. Instead of beginning the season at the outdoor stage, Millette will now close it Sept. 25.
“Ironically, my mother is afraid of birds,” Millette told the Burlington Free Press on May 20, the day he learned his concert would be postponed.
He said he’s not scared of birds but is wary. Especially now.
Differences between ravens and crows
Ravens have a brooding reputation, due in part to Edgar Allan Poe and his macabre “nevermore” musings.
“A hummingbird would have never canceled the show,” Millette said.
Like crows, ravens are deep black in color and caw or croak. But there are, literally, big differences.
“You probably know that ravens are larger, the size of a red-tailed hawk,” reads an Audubon magazine article. “Ravens often travel in pairs, while crows are seen in larger groups.”
Millette and his band, the Fire Below, were to perform a night of ’90s country covers. Last year, he had sprinkled a few “ironically amazing” covers of “country gold” from the likes of Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney in sets of his original music. Venue runners liked what they heard and asked for more.
Ryan Clausen, the first drummer for the Fire Below, is music and events director of the Double E venue at the Essex Experience, a restaurant, shopping and entertainment complex owned by Peter Edelmann. Clausen sent a text last week asking Millette if he was afraid of birds.
Millette didn’t think a whole lot about it, but when Clausen reported that one young raven had still not left the nest, prospects for the show grew dimmer.
Country cover songs lose out to birds
Regulations restrict what can be done to remove bird nests.
“A person shall not take or willfully destroy the nests or eggs of wild birds, other than rock pigeons, house sparrows or European starlings, except when necessary to protect buildings and the nests to be removed contain no eggs or chicks and are no longer being used by birds for feeding,” one Vermont statute reads.
Ravens in particular are shielded by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, said Joshua Morse, a spokesperson for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
“Under this law, it is illegal to kill or move protected species without a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,” Morse told the Free Press by email.
Clausen noticed the nest well after last year’s summer concerts concluded at The Old Stage. “Once I saw that there were eggs in it,” he said, “there wasn’t much I could do.”
Clausen said state wildlife representatives told him the Essex Experience could either let the birds stay until they flew off — then wait a week to make sure they were gone — or pursue euthanizing the entire nest because of its impact on business.
“That made it a pretty easy call for us. We’re not going to do that,” Clausen said. “It would be so anti-everything that we stand for and what Peter stands for and Vermont stands for. If we can save the ravens, we’re going to do that.”
No one wanted to kill birds, Millette said, just so he and his band could cover “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”
Critters chewed through wiring
A May 21 visit to The Old Stage turned up a couple of ravens monitoring the action as well as twigs and several square feet of bird droppings atop the stage. Wires were dangling from the rafters of the barn-like structure.
“The ravens have chewed through a bunch of wiring,” Millette said. “There’s excrement everywhere.”
Ravens are territorial, he noted, so getting near the nest is risky.
He wonders if the big birds have it in for him, maybe because of his familial fear of feathered fauna.
“I feel like it’s a personal attack,” Millette said. “They wouldn’t have built a nest for a Ryan Sweezey show.”
If you go
Upcoming concerts on The Old Stage at the Essex Experience (at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise) include:
- Friday, June 12, StevieMac: A Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks Experience. $30.
- Saturday, June 20, an evening with Quadra. $20.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, the Lara Cwass Band. Free.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, The Grift. Free.
- Friday, July 10, Spafford. $25.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, the All Night Boogie Band. Free.
- Friday, July 17, the Grippo Funk Band featuring Jennifer Hartswick. $20.
- 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, Soul Porpoise featuring Dave Grippo and Geoff Kim with The Project. Free.
- Saturday, July 25, The Samples with Arty LaVigne & Friends. $25.
- 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass with Pappy Biondo of Cabinet. $35.
- Friday, Aug. 14, G. Love & Special Sauce with Dizzyisdead. $35-$135.
- Friday, Sept. 25, Troy Millette & the Fire Below play ‘90s country. $20.
- doubleevt.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@burlingtonfreepress.com.
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