Lola Duffort

A few months ago, a Vermonter on Medicare came to state regulators with a roughly $11,000 bill for a knee replacement they'd received at one of the state's smaller, rural hospitals.

As passed out of the Senate, the legislation would ban all use and sale of the herbicide after 2030 in Vermont. Farmers would be able to use paraquat until then, but only with special permission from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets.

Northeast Kingdom Human Services has agreed to pay Vermont $65,335 to settle a Medicaid fraud and neglect investigation launched by the Vermont Attorney General's office. Under the settlement, announced Monday, the social service nonprofit has also promised to undergo reforms to better serve its clients who might pose a risk to themselves or others.

Regulators and advocates alike say the insurers' requests are a sign the state's efforts to get Vermont's spiraling health care costs under control are bearing fruit. But they also emphasized the work ahead. Vermont's marketplace plans remain, for now, the most expensive in the nation.

Lindsey St. Amour, the executive director of Disability Rights Vermont, said the program represents a “critical rung on the ladder” in the state's system of child mental health care.

Deborah Prim has been in and out of foster care most of her life. About a year ago, the 18-year-old made a surprising discovery: She had paid for the state's services.

Foster youth in Vermont are being denied access to their own federal benefits, as the state uses the funds to pay for their care. Reform efforts are underway.

Vermont lawmakers' only notable attempt to rein in healthcare costs this year may hit a dead end at Republican Gov. Phil Scott's desk.

A session defined by brinkmanship ended with diplomacy after Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Phil Scott reached agreement Friday on an education reform bill that, according to one veteran lawmaker, “is probably the most monumental change we have ever made.”

Education reform stole the headlines when lawmakers adjourned the 2026 legislative session last week. But the Legislature passed scores of bills this year that will have potentially significant implications for residents, businesses and municipalities across the state.