Gov. Phil Scott reappointed Jessica Holmes to a second term on the Green Mountain Care Board Wednesday, following a process wrought with miscommunication and confusion.
Holmes, a professor of economics at Middlebury College, will serve another six-year term on the board, which regulates the state’s health care system. She was the only applicant for the job, said Allan Ramsay, chair of the nominating committee.
Scott praised Holmes’ experience in a statement on Wednesday. “Her extensive background in health policy and economics is so valuable as we work to make healthcare costs more affordable for Vermonters and ensure a strong healthcare system,” he said. Holmes is paid $107,000 a year.
Just weeks before, neither members of the nominating committee, or the officials tasked with appointing them, knew that Holmes’ term was about to expire. Ramsay discovered in mid-September that he was still chair of the nominating committee, even though his term had expired and he no longer wanted to serve.
“There was some confusion out there,” said Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, who also serves on the committee.
Holmes will preside over a decisive moment in Vermont’s health care reform efforts.
The five-member board faces major decisions about the future of OneCare Vermont and the all-payer system. The board must decide to renew the state’s contract with the federal government by 2022.
The board is simultaneously trying to keep struggling hospitals afloat, and to rein in Vermont’s health care costs, which are among the highest in the nation.
For her part, Holmes said in an email she plans to use the next six year to ”improve payment and delivery reform efforts, increase our focus on access, quality and health outcomes, [and] identify strategies to ensure the sustainability of our health care system,” among other goals.
The long-term objective? Make high quality health care more affordable to Vermonters, she said.
The statute that dictates the appointment process is unclear about whether the board requires a more extensive process advertising the position or whether the governor can simply reappoint an existing candidate. For this appointment, there were no other applicants, and no notice of an open position.
Ultimately the nominating committee met via Zoom on Monday and forwarded Holmes’ name to the governor. They also discussed ways to improve the nomination process and clarify the statute.
Lyons said her Senate committee may consider legislation to make sure the board included a balance of expertise and experience. She has previously proposed a bill requiring at least one health professional on the board.
“There’s a need for the administration to look at the statute,” Ramsay said. “We need to think about … how do we make this work better or more equitably.”
In spite of the procedural issues, Ramsay, a former member of the Green Mountain Care Board, said he supported Holmes’ reappointment. He praised Holmes as an “effective board member” who “has done her best in an extremely difficult time.”
“I think this is the right decision for the Green Mountain Care Board at this moment,” he said.
After the vote Monday, Ramsay sent a letter to House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero. Even though his term on the nominating committee had already expired, Ramsay wanted to be clear: He was resigning.
