Attorney General Peter Neronha is urging the General Assembly to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates.
He said last week's news about layoffs at Providence Community Health Centers is alarming but not surprising.
The AG warned the state's health care system will continue to collapse unless providers get the financial support needed.
"The news about significant layoffs at Providence Community Health Centers is as alarming as it is unsurprising. It’s quite simple really: our health care system will continue to collapse unless state leadership invests and raises Medicaid reimbursement rates to support the financial needs of Rhode Island health care practices. And to be clear, this latest hit to our health care system could not have been predicted by quarterly financial reports. Providence Community Health Centers is a well-respected, critically important organization, and yet, they are struggling to survive; the latest victim in this state’s unwillingness to address reimbursement rates. What’s infuriating is that we know what the problem is, and we know how to fix it, but instead we are rolling out modest health care grants and commissioning more studies. Rhode Islanders deserve quality, affordable, and accessible health care, and state leadership is failing to deliver it.
“I urge the General Assembly to support increases in the state budget for Medicaid reimbursement. It’s not too late yet. But it almost is.”
He said Rhode Islanders deserve quality, affordable, accessible health care and state leadership is failing to deliver it.
(Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Caring Across Generations)
Photo: Leigh Vogel / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images