Federal health care law comes at cost to state

The federal health care bill that became law in March will cost Vermont $6.8 million over the next two years, state officials said. The biggest hit will come from the state's no longer receiving rebates for covering Medicaid prescription drugs. Other costs come from not being allowed to raise premiums on the state's Catamount Health Plan and covering children of state workers who remain on their parents' insurance up to age 26, as the new federal legislation allows. "It's $6.8 million in unanticipated costs in the General Fund," Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville said.

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