You may have noticed the CVHHH ads on the inside covers of our local papers the week of February 21st. In advance of Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 1, we connected with four CVHHH supporters and asked them to share why they support our organization.
The ad in the Times-Argus features Ed Flanagan, longtime Montpelier resident, owner of The Point radio station, and CVHHH Board Member. In 2020, we named Ed Community Partner of the Year for his advocacy on behalf of CVHHH.
We captured Ed standing at the corner of State and Main Streets in Montpelier, where the life and activity of Main Street—and the personal and professional relationships that are built there every day—intersect with the activity at the Vermont State House not a half mile down the road. It is where two very important and familiar parts of Vermont life converge.
CVHHH is a mission-driven organization, which means that we care for anyone who needs medically necessary care regardless of insurance status or ability to pay for care. Our staff, volunteers, and Board members like Ed Flanagan are committed to this mission and to the Central Vermont community. We all recognize that there is a greater need for care than people can pay for, and CVHHH will continue to care for everyone who needs it. But we cannot do it alone.
On Tuesday, CVHHH requests town funding support from the communities we serve in Washington and Orange counties. Many of you may have already cast your Town Meeting Day votes via absentee ballots. Over 80 percent of CVHHH’s operating revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid as reimbursement for medical care, education, and supportive-care services provided to Central Vermonters of all ages and at all stages of life. As a Medicare and Medicaid-funded healthcare provider, we cannot negotiate these rates of reimbursement, which are set at the federal and State levels. This means that every year, we are left with a significant difference in the value of care provided and what we are reimbursed.
Town funding helps CVHHH raise money that is put right back into caring for our community and ensuring that staff have the tools and support they need. We use town funds to supplement the cost of providing care to Central Vermonters enrolled in the Medicaid-funded Choices for Care program with instrumental activities of daily living and companionship. We also used the funding during the height of the pandemic to have our personal care attendants provide phone check-ins to Choices for Care clients and to ensure that these individuals had what they needed at a time when visits were less frequent to mitigate the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. As the pandemic continues to confront us with surges, many of these types of services will continue with no reimbursement.
Everyone has their own reasons for supporting CVHHH. For some, it’s the belief that as members of a community, we are responsible for ensuring that our neighbors can access the care they need when they need it. For others, like Ed Flanagan, it’s because of a belief that people heal better at home. By delivering hospital-level medical care, education, and support, we help people maintain vital connections to their Main Street, be it in Waterbury, Northfield, Barre, or Montpelier.
Please consider voting yes for CVHHH’s town funding requests this year. We appreciate your support, and we will be here for you.