Proposed fee hikes for RIte Care may violate federal rules, advocates say

THE PROPOSED rate hikes for families enrolled in the RIte Care health insurance program enacted under the fiscal 2012 budget may violate the maintenance of effort provisions under federal health care reform, according to Policy Analyst with Rhode Island Kids Count Jill K. Beckwith. / COURTESY RITE CARE
THE PROPOSED rate hikes for families enrolled in the RIte Care health insurance program enacted under the fiscal 2012 budget may violate the maintenance of effort provisions under federal health care reform, according to Policy Analyst with Rhode Island Kids Count Jill K. Beckwith. / COURTESY RITE CARE

PROVIDENCE – The proposed rate hikes for families enrolled in the RIte Care health insurance program enacted under the fiscal 2012 budget may violate the maintenance of effort provisions under federal health care reform and may not be allowable, Jill K. Beckwith, policy analyst with Rhode Island Kids Count, testified at a public hearing held on Aug. 25.

The proposed increases would raise the monthly premiums by about $30 a month for families with incomes between 150 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

The increased premiums are scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1, but Beckwith urged representatives from the R.I. Department of Human Services to confirm with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services whether or not these increases are allowable.

Beckwith provided charts that showed the proposed increases in premiums far exceeded those from every New England state as well as New York and New Jersey. For instance, in Massachusetts, at 151 percent of federal poverty levels, a family consisting of two children and a single parent pays a monthly premium of $24, while in Rhode Island the current monthly premium of $61 would be raised to $91. At 250 percent of federal poverty levels, that family would be paying a $122 a month, up from $92 a month, compared to $64 a month in Massachusetts.

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The new monthly rate of $122 at 250 percent of poverty level for that family would make Rhode Island the state that charged the highest monthly premiums in the nation, according to Beckwith. The next closest states are Missouri at $102, Minnesota at $93, New Jersey at $79, and Pennsylvania at $76.

The controversial new increases in monthly premiums for RIte Care were added to the budget by the R.I House Finance Committee at the last minute, without a public hearing, after its initial proposal to trim eligibility the RIte Care program had been based on wrong numbers in an attempt to show that Rhode Island was more generous than its neighbors.

“By instituting these increases premiums, Rhode Island will head in the wrong direction by making health coverage less affordable at a time of great economic challenge for Rhode Island families,” Beckwith said in written testimony that was signed by the R.I. Council of Community Mental Health Organizations and the R.I. Council of Churches.

Also testifying at the hearing against the proposed changes were Linda Katz, director of the Poverty Institute, and Susan Feeley, a middle school teacher in the Providence public schools, who said that these health benefits were a significant factor in the ability of children to succeed in school.

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