Latest news with #Neronha
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Experts discuss issues facing RI's health care system
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island's health care crisis took center stage at the latest Rhode Map Live event Wednesday evening. Brown University Health CEO John Fernandez, R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha and Johnson & Wales University's Maura Iversen spoke with Boston Globe Columnist Dan McGowan about what's affect the state's health care system. McGowan joined 12 News at 4 Thursday to discuss key takeaways from the panel and Neronha's newly-revealed health care policy package. READ MORE: 'No time not to act': Neronha unveils plan to confront RI health care crisis MORE: Globe RI & 12 News Stories Globe RI on » Globe RI & 12 News Partnership: WPRI 12 partners with The Boston Globe Rhode Island to deliver unmatched local news coverage MORE: Globe RI & 12 News Stories 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Litigation, legislation, collaboration: Neronha outlines fix for R.I.'s broken health care system
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha answers reporters' questions on his new health care reform strategy during a press conference at his Providence office on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha took a break Wednesday from his breathless legal pursuit of President Donald Trump's administration to chase a different foe: pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. 'The cost of drugs is astounding,' Neronha told reporters gathered at his South Main Street office in Providence. 'Pharmacy benefit managers…operate in a very secretive and shrouded way…Because they have 80% of the market, they're able to use that market power to drive drug prices sky high and keep that difference.' A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Rhode Island Superior Court against three of the nation's biggest PBMs — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx — is perhaps the sharpest prong among many in a sweeping plan to restructure the way Rhode Island funds health care unveiled Wednesday morning. All of the initiatives in Neronha's heavy slate of proposals are meant to remedy what Neronha called a 'spectacular failure' that has been years in the making. 'It was looming then,' Neronha said Wednesday of the state's health care crisis when he took office in 2019. 'It's here now.' In about 34 minutes of opening remarks, Neronha detailed his office's new list of efforts to effect major change, from boosting mediocre Medicaid reimbursement rates to filling absences in primary care practices. The entire plan is available on a new website, titled 'A Way Forward,' which went live during the press conference. The health care system in Rhode Island is so bad, Neronha offered, that even the state's largest hospital corporation doesn't want to buy hospitals here but instead shops for prospects in Massachusetts. Neronha cited Brown University Health's 2024 purchase of Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River and Morton Hospital in Taunton. 'There are struggling hospitals right here in Rhode Island,' Neronha said. 'Why are they buying them in Massachusetts? Because the reimbursement rates are higher. It's always about the money. Don't let anyone convince you that it's not about the money.' The rollout of initiatives came a week after Neronha announced he secured an $11 million settlement with Barletta Heavy Division Inc., the Massachusetts contractor accused of dumping contaminated soil during construction of the Route 6/10 Interchange in Providence. Neronha steered most of the money toward dental care for children in low-income neighborhoods near the construction site. Unlike with multistate lawsuits where proceeds go directly to the state's general fund, the term-limited Neronha said his office had the authority to decide where the money goes. 'We really started rolling out what we're doing last week with the Barletta settlement,' Neronha said. 'The question was, 'What do we do with that money and how do we solve a problem?'…It became very clear to me that if we had this pot of money and we could use it to drive it back into those neighborhoods, to at least address that community problem and hope to solve it, then that action would make a difference.' After Neronha's monologue, seven of his staff attorneys came up to the podium one by one to describe the details of the AG's plan, including the PBM lawsuit, which targets the three companies who make up around 80% of the national market for managing insurers' prescription drug benefits for patients. 'The cost of drugs is benefit managers…operate in a very secretive and shrouded way…Because they have 80% of the market, they're able to use that market power to drive drug prices sky high and keep that difference. – Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha The lengthy complaint alleges that PBMs extract billions in rebates while reimbursing pharmacies below cost. These shadowy maneuvers, the lawsuit claims, threaten the survival of independent pharmacies, deceive consumers, and inflate drug costs via intricate manipulation of pricing schemes. Sarah Rice, deputy chief of the office's civil division, told reporters that PBMs will demand manufacturers offer rebates on certain drugs if they wish to be distributed through PBMs' networks. That leads manufacturers to increase prices, and PBMs then shave a little off the top by taking a portion of the rebate, according to Rice. 'The health plans pay more, and consumers pay more,' Rice said. 'All of this is set out in much better detail in the complaint, if you are ready to read over 200 paragraphs of allegations.' The complaint was filed under state laws on deceptive trade practices, Rice said, 'Because this behavior is harmful to consumers. It has a direct pocketbook effect to any consumer that has a deductible or co-insurance when they go to the pharmacy, which is most of us.' The suit also identifies three group purchasing organizations (GPOs) — Zinc Health Services, Ascent Health Services, and Emisar Pharma Services — as defendants. PBMs use their organizations to aggregate their purchasing power for pharmaceuticals — a more recent development as benefit managers usually had 'enormous bargaining power on their own,' the lawsuit explains. 'It appears PBMs use GPOs to recategorize existing income streams and generate new income streams,' the lawsuit reads. 'GPOs also serve as an additional, non-transparent layer in an already opaque system, making it even more difficult for health benefit plans to determine whether they received their fair share of rebates.' Neronha's office is seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties, and full restitution for affected patients and pharmacies. The complaint aligns Rhode Island with a growing cohort of states, including Ohio, Arkansas, and Mississippi, that have started legal battles with PBMs for pricing tactics or rebate sleights-of-hand. CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault defended the Woonsocket-based company against the lawsuit's claims in a statement Wednesday. 'It's surprising and unfortunate that Rhode Island's attorney general would use biased and incorrect assertions about our industry to needlessly attack a hometown company,' Thibault wrote. 'CVS Health contributes nearly $3 billion of positive economic activity in Rhode Island each year, and we employ more than 7,000 colleagues across the state.' Thibault said CVS saved customers nationwide over $40 billion last year, with members paying under $8 on average for a 30-day prescription. She also cited an increase in independent pharmacies over the past six years, which the company says are reimbursed at higher rates than CVS stores, including its 62 Rhode Island locations. Neronha's plans include support in three major areas of legislation, including some bills he hopes will pass before the legislative session ends next month. Most prominent in the AG's machinations is a reevaluation of Medicaid rates, illustrated by a presentation slide at the press conference. A hypothetical Medicare reimbursement may pay a provider $100, the slide showed. A commercial insurer might reimburse the provider at $200 for the same service, but Medicaid might only pay $37 — a problem in a state where Medicaid factors heavily into the payer mix, or makeup of different insurance types among the population. About 70% of Rhode Islanders are on public insurance, either Medicare or Medicaid, according to a report accompanying Neronha's action plan. That's why Neronha is supporting H6373, sponsored by Exeter Democratic Rep. Megan Cotter, which would immediately increase Medicaid payment rates to be on par with Medicare payments. The bill was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Finance on Wednesday. Retooling the reimbursement rates would conservatively cost $50 million, Neronha said. 'We can find it in our state government, a $14.2 billion budget,' Neronha said. A year to the day ago, Neronha argued passionately to save the state's safety net hospitals to a who's who of lawmakers and health care leaders at a Rhode Island State House health care summit. On Wednesday, Neronha reiterated several of the same points, and said that the lamentable case of Rhode Island's two safety net hospitals — Our Lady of Fatima and Roger Williams Medical Center — taught him valuable lessons in how reimbursement rates work. It's surprising and unfortunate that Rhode Island's attorney general would use biased and incorrect assertions about our industry to needlessly attack a hometown company. – CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault 'That's where I learned that there's a problem in health care, a structural problem that's going on here,' Neronha said. 'And what is it? Our reimbursements are too low. They're too low in Medicare, they're too low in Medicaid, they're too low in commercial.' The hospitals remain in a purgatory of ownership, with the finalization of the two properties' transfer from Prospect Medical Holdings to new owner Centurion Foundation still incomplete as of Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Gov. Dan McKee submitted a budget amendment that would infuse $4.3 million in state money for a 21-bed long-term behavioral health care inpatient unit at Fatima. Hoping to preempt similar situations, one of Neronha's more assertive proposals would let his office petition Superior Court to place financially distressed or poorly run hospitals, especially those under private ownership, into receivership. The corresponding bill is H6369, sponsored by Rep. Susan Donovan, a Bristol Democrat. On Wednesday, it was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Judiciary. 'This is something, frankly, that we talked about with Prospect before we got to where we are today,' Neronha said. To complement that legislation, Neronha is proposing a regulation that would require Rhode Island-based medical groups to notify the AG's office of any acquisition or restructuring involving private equity or the consolidation of large practices. A public hearing on the proposed rule is scheduled for July 8. 'One thing that we know we don't know is the level of private equity intrusion into the health care market outside of hospital systems,' Neronha said. 'We have great insight into hospital systems because of our regulatory authority over hospital systems, but not into health care practices, and we believe that we need to know so we can head off any problems.' Neronha wants to almost universally eliminate prior authorization processes for primary care providers, except for certain controlled substances or in documented cases of physician fraud, via bill H6317 sponsored by Rep. Mia Ackerman, a Cumberland Democrat. The bill was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Health and Human Services on May 9, and is still waiting for a hearing date. Prior authorization acts as a lever on insurance claims and is meant to help insurers contain unnecessary costs, but it has also been criticized as an example of payer overreach and a seriously demanding time constraint on already overworked physicians. Jordan Broadbent, the office's insurance advocate, told reporters the move to abolish prior authorization is 'bold legislation' and would make Rhode Island a national leader should it pass. Backing Neronha's claims are two reports — one focused on the past, the other on the future. The Statewide Health Care Capacity Assessment features the retrospective data and was compiled by the consulting firm Health Management Associates, who found deep gaps in primary care access and coverage, wobbly long-term financing across different kinds of providers, and understaffed and overworked emergency departments. According to the report, there are roughly 100,000 Rhode Island adults without a primary care provider, an ongoing issue recently exacerbated by the impending closure of Anchor Medical Associates' remaining offices. The report also found poor outcomes for nursing homes, which boast a closure rate twice the national average. An additional nursing home closed shortly after the report was being prepared last summer, said Dorothea Lindquist, health care senior litigation attorney at the AG's office. Lindquist also noted that four providers of Medicare Advantage plans in Rhode Island — which account for over 56% of Medicare enrollees statewide — have not raised their post-acute care reimbursement rates in a decade. 'This finding should be terrifying to everyone in Rhode Island who plans to find themselves aging here,' said Lindquist. Another policy brief included in the AG's package comes from the Collaborative for Health Policy and Reform Analysis (CAHPR) at the Brown University School of Public Health. The dossier reinforces load-bearing planks in Neronha's plans, including enhanced regulatory authority over health care transactions and expansion of primary care access. 'The proposals vary in scope, legal complexity, and political feasibility, but each offers a potential pathway for meaningful reform,' according to the brief, which discusses a state-based, single-payer plan, a comprehensive public option, pricing parity for Medicaid reimbursements and widening the state's drug purchasing pool beyond state employee coverage. The Brown collaborative's recommendations and Neronha's stratagems differ from those outlined in a primary care stabilization strategy recently announced by Gov. Dan McKee, which emphasized more gradual reform via existing regulatory mechanisms and a future review of Medicaid rates. Neronha called McKee's April 29 announcement of a long-term primary care strategy 'slapdash,' and the attorney general's plan is contrastingly nimble, in his own evaluation. 'Everything we're gonna roll out today is action we believe will make a difference,' Neronha said. The complete set of initiatives included in Neronha's wishlist, as listed in a press release from his office: File suit against the three largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in the country to protect Rhode Island consumers from unfair and deceptive conduct that has caused drug prices to skyrocket; Introduce legislation to immediately raise Medicaid reimbursement rates to 100% of Medicare rates for primary care providers; Introduce legislation to immediately eliminate nearly 100% of prior authorization requirements for primary care providers; Introduce legislation authorizing the Attorney General to petition the Superior Court to place a hospital into receivership if the facility becomes financially unstable; Issue proposed regulations to require pre-merger notification of certain material corporate transactions involving medical practice groups, including transactions involving private equity firms; Issue an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking regarding market oversight of artificial intelligence (AI); Collaborate with the Brown University School of Public Health Center for Advancing Health Policy Through Research (CAHPR) to examine potential policy options for state-based health system reform; and Plan for a new state health care agency to obtain and analyze healthcare data, and inform innovative and effective governmental health care decision-making. 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Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
R.I.'s health care system is in a state of ‘spectacular failure,' attorney general says
Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'If they don't, there will be one reason why not: because we haven't acted quickly enough,' the attorney general said. Advertisement 'If we have the courage to do what we're talking about today, we can drive down costs, enhance revenue, [and] give Rhode Islanders a health care system they deserve,' he added. On that list is proposed legislation to immediately increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to primary care providers so the rates are 100 percent 'on par with rates for Medicare,' officials said. The current Medicaid rate in Rhode Island is 37 percent of Medicare's rate — lower than it is in neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut, Neronha said. Advertisement 'Low Medicaid reimbursement also undercuts our primary care providers by under compensating them for their services, and it makes it harder for Rhode Island to retain PCPs,' said Lee Staley, the health care unit chief for the Attorney General's Office. The bill, if approved, 'would allow for the state to leverage federal matching funds that are available in the Medicaid program, essentially letting the state's dollars stretch further,' Staley said. The initiative is estimated to cost around $50 million, according to Neronha. He said he has spoken with House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi about how to drum up the funding, but did not elaborate further. 'We have to stabilize primary care right now,' Neronha said. 'Primary care doctors are the air traffic controllers of our health care system. They're the ones that analyze our problem, send us to the tests we need, send us to the specialist we need.' Here are other actions Neronha outlined on Wednesday: A lawsuit against pharmacy benefit managers Rhode Island has filed a lawsuit in Providence County Superior Court against the country's largest pharmacy benefit managers — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Optum — and their affiliated group purchasing organizations, Zinc, Ascent Health Services, Emisar Pharma Services. The lawsuit alleges that PBNs, which act as a third-party between health plans and drug manufacturers, 'deceive consumers by branding themselves as a source of cost-savings when in fact they profit directly from cost increases,' officials said. 'Often secretive and unknown to consumers, PBMs and GPOs exploit the complex scheme of pricing and payment for prescription drugs, and they take a cut of ever-increasing drug prices at every step of the way,' Neronha's office said. 'They may also make decisions about formularies — the lists of drugs that are available to plan enrollees — that unfairly restrict access to safe and effective medications.' Advertisement Proposed legislation and regulations Neronha's office has proposed legislation that, if passed, would make it unlawful for insurers to require prior authorization 'on any procedure, test, treatment, study or prescription drug ordered by a primary care provider, with exceptions for controlled substances and individual providers with identified cases of fraud, waste or abuse,' officials said. Another proposed bill would grant the attorney general the authority to petition the Superior Court to place a hospital into receivership — a process similar to bankruptcy in state court — if it is in 'financial distress or is otherwise being operated in a manner that is detrimental to patients,' Neronha's office said. Prosecutors are also eyeing regulations to require the attorney general's office be notified of 'certain material corporate transactions involving medical practice groups, including transactions involving private equity firms,' and are looking into how to possibly regulate the use of artificial intelligence in health care, officials said. Establishing a new state health care agency and Brown University collaboration The Attorney General's Office has also collaborated with the Brown University School of Public Health Center for Advancing Health Policy Through Research to 'examine potential policy options for state-based health system reform,' officials said. Additionally, Neronha said his office is proposing the creation of a new state-run health care agency that would work to collect data and make policy recommendations to improve Rhode Island's health care system. Officials anticipate a more complete proposal to be ready later this year, before the 2026 legislative session. 'We have come to the conclusion that the way we're doing health care isn't strategic — that that element of thinking doesn't exist in Rhode Island,' he said. Advertisement 'We can do better,' he added. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Route 6/10 contractor settles environmental violations with state for $11M; criminal charges dropped
Signs pointing towards Routes 6 and 10, along with Interstate 95, in Providence's Silver Lake neighborhood. The neighborhood is one of three where children will have priority for dental care with funds secured by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha in a settlement with Barletta Heavy Division Inc. of Canton, Mass. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) The Massachusetts company accused of dumping thousands of tons of contaminated soil during construction of the Route 6/10 Interchange in Providence and lying about it has paid $11 million to settle criminal charges set to go to trial next month. Nearly all the money will go toward funding dental care for Providence children living in neighborhoods near the highway, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said in announcing the settlement with Barletta Heavy Division Inc. during a news conference at his Providence office Wednesday. The settlement was signed May 15. Complaints over contaminated soil surfaced in the summer of 2020 after workers voiced concerns about excessive dust. Barletta, based in Canton, Massachusetts, claims such allegations were the result of a scheme involving extortion and bribery by its now-defunct competitor, Cardi Corp. The AG's office filed criminal charges against Barletta in early 2023 after the company had agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle federal charges over the issue. The state charged Barletta with two counts of illegal disposal of solid waste, one count of operating a solid waste management facility without a license, and one count of providing a false document to a public official. Neronha said the $1.5 million federal fine wasn't enough to deter future use of contaminated fill in Rhode Island. 'For there to be any hope that Barletta learned their lesson, they would have to pay a lot more,' Neronha said. Under the settlement, Barletta will contribute $10 million toward a newly-created Attorney General's 6/10 Children's Fund, which will be managed by the Rhode Island Foundation to address health needs and concerns of children in Providence. Priority will be given to children living in the Olneyville, Silver Lake and West End neighborhoods. Rhode Island Foundation CEO David Cicilline lauded the state's settlement agreement, noting that Neronha's goal is central to the nonprofit's work. 'Focusing the funding on neighborhoods where health disparities are high won't just close gaps in access to care; the benefits will spill over into their everyday lives,' Cicilline said in a statement. 'Children who are healthy can concentrate on school, enjoy play and contribute to their communities, creating pathways to a brighter future.' Another $750,000 will go to the AG's office to pay for investigation and prosecution expenses. The remaining $250,000 will go to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, which investigated the contamination claims. 'Getting them to this point was not easy,' Neronha said. 'Barletta knew what it did a long time ago, and it was not necessary for them to take this long.' Under the terms of the settlement, Barletta admitted to all the claims made in a civil complaint filed on Tuesday. The state alleged that Barletta dumped more than 4,500 tons of stone and soil containing arsenic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station and a stockpile from Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood at the Route 6/10 Interchange construction project. The Route 6/10 project reconstructed the interchange at Interstate 95 and involved replacing or removing seven structurally deficient bridges. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation awarded Barletta a $247 million in 2017 contract to rebuild the interchange. 'It wasn't hazardous, but it was contaminated for certain,' Neronha said of the soil. Barletta attorney Shannon Reilly said the company is eager to move forward from the case, which was scheduled to head to trial in Providence County Superior Court June 9. The case is now permanently closed and cannot be brought back to court. 'With today's settlement agreement and the dismissal with prejudice of all criminal and civil charges in this case, Barletta is pleased to put this matter behind us and looks forward to continuing our long history of successfully and responsibly delivering world class public infrastructure projects,' she said in an emailed statement. 'We will not have any further comment on this matter.' Barletta has claimed it is no longer able to obtain work in Rhode Island because of the use of contaminated soil on the 6/10 project. Neronha cited a 2024 Providence Journal article on rising tooth decay among children in low-income and immigrant neighborhoods in Providence as his motivation for using the settlement funds toward a grant program. 'There's no child in Rhode Island that should face that experience,' Neronha said. 'I want every kid to be proud of their smile.' Neronha said he chose to have money administered by the Rhode Island Foundation rather than go to the state's general fund because he felt Barletta's impact was neighborhood specific, rather than an entire state issue. '$10 million is a lot of money, and I wanted it to be used for kids who are facing a crisis but live in that area,' Neronha said. Unlike multistate lawsuits, the Barletta settlement does not have to go directly into state coffers, Neronha said. He noted his predecessor Peter Kilmartin disbursed proceeds to nonprofit environmental groups from the state's 2017 settlement with Volkswagen over misrepresenting emissions. Neronha said he hopes funds from the Barletta settlement will start covering kids' dental care before his term as the state's top prosecutor wraps up in 2026. 'I've got 18 months to go. I want to see movement,' Neronha told reporters. Details for how the money will be disbursed are still to be determined. Greg Stepka, a North Smithfield-based dentist who attended the press conference, told Rhode Island Current he would like to see the $10 million go toward more community health centers and dental buses that visit schools, along with the creation of a centralized surgical center. 'This is a win-win,' he said. 'The kids need this.' Barletta is among 13 contractors the state is suing for negligent work on the westbound Washington Bridge. Seven defendants, including Barletta, tried to get the case dismissed, but Judge Brian Stern denied their petitions on Feb. 27. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Boston Globe
21-05-2025
- Boston Globe
R.I. settles with Mass. contractor charged with dumping contaminated fill at Route 6/10 construction site
Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'Companies that treat our state as a dumping ground and place the health and welfare of Rhode Islanders at risk, as Barletta has here, must face real consequences for their unlawful conduct,' Neronha said in a statement. Advertisement Of the money received, $10 million will be directed to the Rhode Island Foundation to establish a new fund to provide dental care for children and teens in Providence neighborhoods closest to the site, particularly Olneyville, the West End, and Silver Lake, Neronha said at a press conference. The attorney general said the idea for the fund came from a desire to have the settlement benefit residents most impacted by dust kicked up around the construction site. Advertisement After some families in the area hired legal counsel and opted not to be part of the settlement, Neronha said he was inspired to put the money toward improving adolescent dental health upon reading a In 2024, one in four Providence elementary and middle school students had unmet dental care needs, Neronha said Wednesday. Dr. Fotini M. Dionisopoulos, president of the Rhode Island Dental Association, said in a statement dentists have 'raised the alarm' about the growing oral health crisis facing the city's children. 'By investing these funds in pediatric dental care, we have the opportunity to change the trajectory of this crisis and bring lasting relief to families who have waited far too long for meaningful support,' Dionisopoulos said. Neronha told reporters that he hopes this $10 million investment is just the start. 'We'll figure out a way to keep this going,' he said. 'I want every kid to have a smile they're proud of.' Of the remaining $1 million, $750,000 will be used to cover investigation and prosecution expenses for Neronha's office, and $250,000 will cover investigation costs for the state Department of Environmental Management, according to officials. Under the terms of the settlement, prosecutors have also dropped three criminal charges filed against Ferreira, who provided a false environmental testing report to the state, pleaded nolo contendere to a charge of giving a false document to an agent, employee, or public official in Providence Superior Court on Wednesday. Advertisement A plea of nolo contendere means the defendant neither accepts nor denies responsibility for the charges, but agrees to accept punishment. The dismissed charges included two counts of disposing of refuse somewhere other than a licensed facility, and operating a solid waste management facility without a license. Judge Maureen B. Keough sentenced Ferreira, 67, of Holliston, Mass., to a one-year suspended prison sentence and one year of probation, records show. In a statement, Barletta said it is 'looking forward to putting the 6/10 matter behind us, getting back to competitively bidding without restriction, and continuing to do what we do best – successfully and responsibly delivering world-class infrastructure projects.' 'This settlement reflects a business decision that is the result of protracted delays in the litigations towards reaching a resolution, combined with the fact that even with what Barletta is sure would have been a positive result at trial, could have and likely would have resulted in appeals by the State and even more prolonged litigation, further continuing the [crippling] effect of this filing on Barletta's continued operation,' the company said. 'Barletta is and has been a responsible contractor in Rhode Island and elsewhere, and of particular note is the fact that there has been no previous, nor even any subsequent, allegations of any such conduct or violations in Barletta's history, including in the five years since these allegations.' State prosecutors first Advertisement The company reached a non-prosecution agreement with federal authorities, through which it was ordered to pay a $500,000 criminal fine. Barletta also settled under the federal False Claims Act for $1 million. Barletta noted on Wednesday the latest settlement 'and the facts admitted … are entirely consistent with the facts previously agreed to in the Federal Non-Prosecution Agreement entered into with the US [Department of Justice] in October of 2022.' The fill in question has since remained at the site: Officials have previously said experts determined trying to dig up and remove it would pose more of a public health risk than leaving it where it is – a point Neronha re-iterated on Wednesday. 'We kind of are where we are,' he said. Work is still underway on the $410 million Route 6/10 project, which involves building nine bridges, including two new ones, according to the state's Material from a previous Globe story was used in this report. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
