The Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington will not lose its Medicaid and Medicare funding after all, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Monday.
The home stood to lose $7.1 million in Medicaid funding in addition to an estimated annual operating loss of $3.6 million, if it failed a recent inspection.
“I am very pleased that CMS found the Vermont Veterans’ Home ‘in compliance’ and that federal funding will not be withdrawn from that facility,” Sanders said in a news release.
Sanders, who was in Burlington on Monday for a Veterans Affairs event, said he met this month with the Shumlin administration and representatives from the home, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and CMS to look at ways to prevent an interruption in the home’s funding.
“I am pleased at the progress we are seeing at the veterans’ home,” Sanders said. “I am committed to making sure the men and women who have served our country in uniform receive the benefits they have earned and deserve.”
Gov. Peter Shumlin issued the following statement:
“This is welcome news and reflects hard work from the management, staff, and Board to ensure that the Veterans’ Home complies with federal regulations in delivering quality care to our aging veterans and their families. Those who serve our country deserve a Veterans’ Home that honors their service through quality care as they age. Now our focus must broaden to include returning the Veterans’ Home to financial stability, and I look forward to achieving this with the help of the Board, the Vermont State Employees Association, and the Legislature.”
