“We could be heading for a catastrophe,” Dr. Michael Wagner, Care New England Health System CEO and president, said when asked to assess Rhode Island’s health care system.
He spoke at PBN’s April 2 Health Care Summit, before news broke that Anchor Medical Associates had notified 25,000 patients it would be closing in June due to a shortage of primary care doctors.
Wagner and others have been sounding the alarm on the state’s increasingly fragile health system for more than a year. Low physician reimbursement rates, workforce shortage, and access and affordability challenges have strained providers and left the system vulnerable to outside economic forces and potential federal funding cuts.
“Every health system executive today is … saying, ‘We have to make cuts,’ ” Wagner said.
State lawmakers can help by increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Panelists at the PBN summit said the state needs a comprehensive health care plan. State leaders need to act now to help providers do more than just react to bad news.