A hospital bed in the infirmary unit of Southern State Correctional Facility. File photo by Phoebe Sheehan/VTDiggerDo an internet search for Wellpath — the private equity-owned contractor that provides health care in Vermont correctional facilities — and it’s easy to find a slew of troubling news.In 2023, staff at Wellpath — which receives $37 million a year from the Department of Corrections — accidentally administered Tylenol and codeine to an estimated 15 people at Northwest State Correctional Facility instead of their opioid addiction medicine. Later that year, VTDigger reported that the top health care administrator at Southern State Correctional Facility had his nursing license suspended or revoked in three states. Nationally, the company faces hundreds of lawsuits, many alleging substandard care and wrongful death or injury, and the company is currently filing for bankruptcy. “It’s a rough Google search, Wellpath, right?” Rep. Conor Casey, D-Montpelier, said at a meeting of the House Corrections and Institutions Committee Friday.But on Friday, after hearing from James Ulager, Wellpath’s Vermont medical director, and Aviva Tevah, the corrections department’s executive director of health, wellness and engagement, some committee members expressed at least cautious optimism about care in Vermont’s prisons. That comes amid an ongoing redesign of the state’s correctional health system.“About a year ago, we decided that we would kind of overhaul our health division,” said Nick Deml, Vermont’s corrections commissioner, in an interview. That redesign included the creation of Tevah’s position. Both Ulager and Tevah are new faces, having both started roughly six months ago. “I have no skin in the game if we’re public, private — like, I show up and I take care of our people,” Ulager told lawmakers. The state has brought more services under the health division and sought to improve communication with incarcerated people, according to Deml, conducting two patient satisfaction surveys since 2023. Wellpath leaders meet weekly with state regulators, and DOC has invested in treatment for opioid use disorder in prisons, which roughly two thirds of the state’s incarcerated people receive. The state received federal permission to begin Medicaid coverage for people leaving correctional facilities in 2026, and officials are seeking funding to debut a pilot for an injectable opioid use disorder treatment.“This is the second, maybe third or fourth time, I’ve come out of a meeting with those people, the people who are doing health care within the Department of Corrections,” Ranking Member Rep. Troy Hendrick, P/D-Burlington, said in an interview. “This is the first time I’ve had kind of a glimmer of hope.”— Peter D’AuriaIn the knowThis is news to exactly zero people, but Vermont health care is increasingly expensive. Exactly why, though — and what to do about it — is a matter of debate. Don George, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield Vermont, the largest private health insurer in the state, pointed to high costs at hospitals and health care facilities in a letter sent to lawmakers and state officials this week. “Although it is easy to dismiss Vermont’s higher costs by citing our aging demographics, national Blue Cross and Blue Shield comparative data shows our state’s older population is relatively healthy and only accounts for a portion of this excessive cost,” George wrote, adding that when adjusted for that, Vermont BCBS costs are still 26% higher than their counterparts in other Northeastern states.Instead, he wrote, “Prices at our local hospitals and healthcare system are among the highest nationally in nearly every comparative data set.”But in testimony to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare Friday, Devon Green, an in-house lobbyist with the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems — which represents those local hospitals — offered a different perspective. Vermont’s aging population is a factor, she said: “We are seeing folks come in (to facilities) with higher acuity,” she said. “So they’re coming in sicker, and they’re staying longer.”Green also floated the possibility of reforming Vermont’s insurance market, suggesting that prices might be lower if the state had a wider variety of health plans on offer.“We agree that we need to look at our affordability issue pretty (cohesively),” she said. “So that’s looking at providers, but that’s also looking at our health care insurance market and seeing what we can do there.”— Peter D’AuriaGov. Phil Scott has promised a major education reform proposal that would transform Vermont’s public education system. For now, the specifics remain murky. But the broad strokes have begun to come to light, and the Legislature expects to hear a more complete plan in a joint briefing Wednesday. Scott’s inaugural speech hinted at the major areas, including changing school district governance structures, increasing staff to student ratios, and reimagining Vermont’s education funding formula. That means the state could see district consolidation, school closures and state-imposed budget constraints unprecedented in recent memory, all targeted at lowering the cost of Vermont’s public education system. Read more here.— Ethan WeinsteinScott announced two new leadership appointments in his administration Friday. Matt Rousseau has been promoted within the Department of Motor Vehicles to deputy commissioner. Interestingly, Scott’s deputy chief of staff Brittney Wilson will take the same position in the Department of Public Service. Wilson’s departure makes three governor’s office heavyweights departing in quick succession. In December, Rebecca Kelley, Scott’s former chief communications officer took the same post at the Agency of Administration, and Kendal Smith, his former director of policy development and legislative affairs, became deputy commissioner of the Department of Labor. Their previous positions are now filled by Jason Maulucci — the manager of Scott’s last campaign — and Dustin Degree, who came from labor department leadership. When that kind of turnover happens, journalists wonder — do staff know something we don’t about the gov’s intentions for a sixth term? Or maybe it’s just that the time was right for a change. — Kristen FountainCorrectionOur newsletter yesterday contained an error in its excerpt of a story about the Secretary of State Office’s new civic health index. Their finding through a survey was that only 59% of young people indicated that they do intend to register to vote, not that they don’t intend to. Read the story on VTDigger here: Final Reading: A ‘glimmer of hope’ in Vermont prison health care.