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Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘We need meaningful action now': RI lawmakers urged to pass health care reforms
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI) urged lawmakers Thursday afternoon to pass key legislation aimed at stabilizing health care statewide. Specifically, HARI wants the General Assembly to approve a so-called 'Health Care Action Package,' which includes the following: Family Health Care Act: Increases Medicaid reimbursement rates for physicians and advance practice providers in the community Medicaid Reinvestment Act: Improves the hospital payment structure by increasing Medicaid payments at no additional cost to taxpayers by leveraging the hospital provider tax Health Insurance Fairness Act: Makes Rhode Island's commercial reimbursement rates more competitive with Massachusetts and Connecticut Defending Affordable Prescription Drug Costs Act: Preserves the 340B drug pricing program to stabilize care and keep clinics open 'Rhode Island's health care crisis did not happen overnight — it's a systemic problem that is the result of years of underinvestment and lack of strategy,' said Howard Dulude, HARI's interim president. 'We are at a critical point in addressing this crisis, and the cost of inaction affects every corner of the health care system and will be felt by every single Rhode Islander.' 'The path forward must include sustainable solutions that address the root causes of instability within the health care system: insufficient reimbursement rates across all payers, workforce shortages and burnout, and financial instability,' he continued. RELATED: Lawmakers urge Butler Hospital to settle contract dispute with union Dulude urged state lawmakers to 'recognize the gravity of Rhode Island's health care crisis and act quickly.' 'The decisions made today will determine whether Rhode Islanders can access care tomorrow,' he said. Dr. Michael Migliori, chairman of the Rhode Island Medical Society Public Laws Committee, said that while primary care is at the center of the state's health care crisis, it extends to every corner of the system. 'We need meaningful action now to rebuild the workforce and ensure that care remains close to home,' Migliori David Tikoian, who's sponsoring the Medicaid Reinvestment Act, stressed that this piece of legislation will have a tremendous impact. 'Our hospitals have been expected to deliver high-quality care on budgets that simply don't reflect the true cost of doing so,' Tikoian said, adding that his bill will allow hospitals to 'plan for the future, protect critical services and avoid the painful decisions that come with chronic underfunding.' Gov. Dan McKee told 12 News earlier this week that the state requested a rate study last year that was never approved. He said he's hopeful the rate study will go through this year. 'You really need the data to make sure that you're responding properly,' McKee explained. 'Reimbursement rate increases could potentially have an impact on insurance rates and could have an impact on taxes.' SEE ALSO: Women & Infants lays off 12 workers as union pickets But Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha disagrees. He told 12 News that he doesn't think a rate study is necessary. 'We certainly don't need to study the problem anymore,' Neronha said. 'We know what the problem is. We don't have enough revenue in the system. Our reimbursement rates are too low and we need to raise them, especially Medicaid.' Most of the legislation included in the Health Care Action Package was introduced in various House and Senate committees and held for further study. Tikoian told 12 News he hopes his proposal, which was referred to the Senate Finance Committee, will make it to the floor later this month. Download the and apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch or with the new . Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Anchor Medical Associates to close, adding more pressure to state's fragile health care system
A sign outside Anchor Medical Associates' office on Commerce Street in Lincoln. (Screenshot/Google Maps) Over 25,000 patients will need to find new pediatricians and primary care doctors before Anchor Medical Associates closes all three of its offices by June 30. The physician group's Bald Hill Road location in Warwick will shutter on April 30. Warwick patients can continue seeing their provider at the medical group's Commerce Street location in Lincoln. On June 30, both the Lincoln location and the adult medicine office on Corliss street in Providence will close. A closure notice was first sent to patients last week, WPRI-TV reported on Friday. 'The decision to close our practices has been extremely difficult, particularly against the backdrop of a shortage of primary care physicians across the state,' the practice stated in its letter to patients, which was posted to its website Monday. 'While our commitment to our patients remains strong, we just cannot continue to operate in this increasingly challenging healthcare environment.' The practice was incorporated in 1999. There are currently 22 providers listed on Anchor's website. Over the last decade, the practice said it has had great difficulty in hiring new doctors to replace retiring physicians. 'While costs continue to rise, reimbursement rates make it extremely difficult to attract new physicians to our state,' the letter stated. Anchor stated that for patients who need to find new doctors, it wants to 'make this as smooth a transition as possible,' and is encouraging patients to obtain copies of their medical records within the next 90 days. A records request form is available on the practice's website. Records will continue to be available after June 30, according to the Anchor website. The Rhode Island Department of Health posted an announcement about the closure on its website and is advising patients to do two things: begin searching for a new primary care provider, and request copies of medical records. The health department notes that while records can be obtained after the closure date, 'it is best to obtain them beforehand.' The Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI) called the closure is another blow to the already wounded state of primary care. 'These unfortunate events highlight how Rhode Island's health care crisis is very real, and getting worse,' Howard Dulude, the trade group's interim president, said in a statement released Monday. Addressing subpar provider reimbursement rates has been a recurring motif at the State House. A sizable number of Rhode Islanders receive health care through public insurance like Medicaid, more so than in neighboring states, but Rhode Island's Medicaid reimbursement rates lag behind other states. Hospitals blasted Gov. Dan McKee earlier this year when the governor's budget made no room for higher reimbursements. HARI has put its weight behind three bills this legislative session, each with a Senate and House version, and two of them focused on improving the Medicaid reimbursement rate problem. The Family Health Care Act is a joint resolution that would OK a $90,000 appropriation to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to help the agency raise Medicaid reimbursement rates. Both versions have been introduced in their respective chambers but have not yet been scheduled for hearings. Another Medicaid bill that has been introduced in both chambers but not yet heard by committees would funnel money from hospital licensing fees toward increasing Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals. Starting in fiscal year 2026, which begins on July 1, hospitals would be organized into a new three-tier system, and with their size, services and patient population informing their tier placement. Hospitals with higher proportions of Medicaid and uninsured patients would pay less in fees than bigger hospital systems. Once the state collects $90 million in these fees, any excess funds would be poured into Medicaid reimbursements. A third bill backed by HARI would make the state more competitive with Massachusetts and Connecticut and grant the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC) greater regulatory power over commercial health insurers' payments to hospitals and providers. The commissioner would need to review and approve annual increases in hospital contracts and provider payment rates if the total cost of care exceeds the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers plus 3%. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
