Raimondo establishes group to restructure Medicaid

GOV. GINA M. RAIMONDO signs the executive order establishing a group that will restructure Medicaid in Rhode Island. She is surrounded by members of the group. Elizabeth H. Roberts, state secretary of health and human services, is standing behind Raimondo. / PBN PHOTO/ELI SHERMAN
GOV. GINA M. RAIMONDO signs the executive order establishing a group that will restructure Medicaid in Rhode Island. She is surrounded by members of the group. Elizabeth H. Roberts, state secretary of health and human services, is standing behind Raimondo. / PBN PHOTO/ELI SHERMAN

(Updated 5:04 p.m.) PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo on Thursday signed an executive order establishing a group to restructure Medicaid in Rhode Island, a system she calls “completely unsustainable.”
The move is part of an effort to reduce the state’s per-enrollee costs, which – in Rhode Island – is among the highest in the nation.
Raimondo, in a press conference at the Statehouse, outlined the issue, saying Medicaid costs comprise about one-third of the state’s budget. Rhode Island, she said, faces a “serious structural deficit and significant annual fiscal constraints.”
“We have a Medicaid system in this state that isn’t working,” Raimondo added, before signing the executive order.
The governor is scheduled to propose her first state budget March 12, which she said will be “quite specific about [her] plans for fiscal ’16 with respects to Medicaid,” but stopped short of providing specifics.
The group, comprising 28 governor-selected members, will be co-chaired by Dennis Keefe, president and CEO of Care New England, and Dr. Ira Wilson of Brown University.
According to the R.I. Budget Office, Medicaid spending totaled $1.85 billion in Rhode Island in fiscal 2015, with the state’s share of the total at 44.4 percent.
Seven percent of Rhode Island Medicaid enrollees make up two-thirds – more than $1 billion – of the total cost of Medicaid, a percentage fairly consistent throughout the U.S.
The governor says the group is not going to be all about making cuts, but rather to create short- and long-term structural change to “provide better care at less cost.” But when asked whether she would consider budget cuts – or cutting eligibility – she said, “nothing can be taken off the table.”
“I’m proposing a new approach, which is not just looking at this as a budget cut, it’s not just a budget cut, it’s about reinventing the system of care,” Raimondo said.
The group is expected to start its work immediately, and will submit a report on or about April 30 to the governor of its findings and recommendations to be considered in the fiscal 2016 budget.
Another report, for a multiyear transformation of Medicaid and all state-financed health care in Rhode Island, will be submitted no later than July 1, at which time the group will be disbanded.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Good always to re-examine these issues. At present, medicaid is the WORSE reimbursement of anyone in ri.

    Many providers, including doctors do NOT take medicaid. Those that do have to limit the number of patients they can accept, because of the poor reimbursement. Medicare and insurers like Blue Cross have been decreasing their reimburement rates for years. This is put greater pressure on them to try and maintain revenue to pay their help, and bill.
    The worse thing they could do is reduce the already lowest rates paid. this would make more providers leave medicaid. or close their business.

    Daniel Issa