Feds postpone innovation-grants deadline

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s efforts to put together its plans for a State Innovation Model grant proposal are still moving ahead at full steam to be finished by October, despite the fact that the federal government has postponed its deadlines for when the grants are due, according to Jennifer Word, chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Elizabeth H. Roberts, whose office is coordinating the initiative.
The effort, know as “Healthy Rhode Island: A Plan for Rhode Island’s Health Care System of the Future,” is being supported by a $1.6 million grant to the state from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, a division of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The process of work groups to prepare the plan is being led by The Advisory Board, a consulting group with extensive experience in health care reform.
The State Innovation Model grant proposal being prepared by Rhode Island will eventually compete for three-year grants ranging from $20 million to $60 million to implement the plans and test new payment and delivery models.
The new date to submit applications will probably be in December, according to Wood.