National Healthcare Decisions Day is observed every year on April 16, and serves as a reminder for each of us about the importance of advance care planning.

Vermont’s home health and hospice providers believe that promoting client self-determination and independence is critical to the work they do caring for our friends, neighbors and loved ones.

While we can’t plan for everything our lives have in store for us, we can have a plan in place for our health should we not be able to advocate for our own health care decisions.

Creating a plan starts with a conversation about your goals and values, and what is most important to you in your life and when it comes to your care.

Discussing what matters most to each of us, including our wishes for care through the end of life, with our loved ones and medical providers, is an important first step to ensuring that we can always have a say in our healthcare, even in the case of a medical emergency or serious illness.

Visit The Conversation Project for information and tools to get started on creating a plan, and the Vermont Ethics Network for the forms necessary for Advance Care Planning.

VNAs of Vermont Executive Director Jill Mazza Olson has been appointed to two national leadership positions on the on the National Association for Home Care and Hospice's Advocacy and Rural Advisory Councils!

On these committees Jill will have the opportunity to join with colleagues from around the country to identify and advocate for federal and state solutions that protect and strengthen access to the exceptional home health and hospice care delivered by VNAs of Vermont members that our neighbors, friends and families depend on.

April 2023 marks the official start of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s Medicaid continuous coverage provision wind down by the Department of Vermont Health Access. That means the Medicaid renewal process will resume.

For a full year, starting now, Vermont Medicaid enrollees must be redetermined for eligibility, and should receive a renewal notice one month before their renewal is due.

The Medicaid eligibility rules have not changed; this is simply a return to the process by which Medicaid eligibility is checked for all individuals regularly.

This includes Medicaid for Children and Adults, Medicaid for the Aged, Blind and Disabled, and Long Term Care Medicaid.

More information about the Medicaid Renewal unwind can be found on the DVHA website, including a toolkit for providers to talk to patients about the process. 

Educational Opportunities

Emergency Preparedness

May 1 | 1 p.m.

Hosted by VNAs of Vermont

Webinar

New England Home Care & Hospice Conference

May 2-4

Hosted by VNAs of Vermont

In-Person (Manchester, NH)

Aide Services and Aide Supervision

June 5 | 1 p.m.

Hosted by VNAs of Vermont

Webinar

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