Latest news with #RhodeIslanders'
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RI Republicans propose cutting renewable energy programs to reduce utility bills
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — House Republicans have announced a suite of bills cutting back renewable energy programs they say are driving up Rhode Islanders' energy bills. 'Far too often, the utility is painted as the villain, but many of these cost increases stem from legislative mandates — laws passed by the General Assembly that forced utilities to buy expensive energy or fund inefficient programs,' House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale said at a news conference Thursday. The bills, proposed just before the legislative deadline, would do everything from ending solar and wind projects to eliminating the energy efficiency charge. ALSO READ: RI lawmaker wants to cut back on clean energy to lower utility bills One bill would put a pause on net metering, which offers credits to renewable energy customers. 'Right now, solar customers are credited at the full retail rate for energy,' Chippendale said. 'They produce up to 125% of their usage. That's not market-based. It's an inflated rate that gets passed on to every single ratepayer in this state.' Some Democrats at the State House argue renewable energy costs are not the problem — profits are. Legislation proposed by state Rep. Meghan Cotter instead aims to curb the profit margins of utility companies. A spokesperson for Rhode Island Energy said the company has met with leaders from both parties. READ MORE: Expensive electric bills put RI clean energy policies into spotlight 'We welcome smart legislation that prioritizes a balance between reliability and affordability, and look forward to continuing to work with those members of the General Assembly who are committed to that same goal,' Caroline Prettyman wrote. Conversations have gotten louder in Rhode Island as residents continue to share stories of high utility bills. RELATED: Rhode Islanders shred utility bills at State House to protest rising costs 'The money should come back to Rhode Islanders through the profits that Rhode Island Energy is bringing in, instead of by rolling back green energy initiatives that are aimed to make our state better for, you know, not just right now, but 100 years to come,' said Zach Mezera with the Working Families Party. He believes the conversation about utility reform shouldn't be a partisan issue. 'Rhode Island Energy has a lot of money for marketing,' he said. 'They know that this is an issue that wedges right into the middle of the public. So for our part, we think they're trying to pit us left and right, young and old, pro green and anti green against each other.' 12 RESPONDS: Getting answers to your utility bill questions 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
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RIBridges firewall worked. But forensic report says hundreds of alarms went unnoticed.
Department of Administration Director Jonathan Womer, Gov. Dan McKee, and Chief Digital Officer Brian Tardiff, are seen at a May 15, 2025, press conference unveiling findings from a forensic investigation into the 2024 RIBridges data breach. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) A cybercriminal group breached the state's public benefits portal last July, lingered inside the network's backend for five months, and triggered hundreds of firewall alerts when it transferred gigabytes of Rhode Islanders' data to its own servers in November. But RIBridges system vendor and manager Deloitte, a multinational firm valued at $67.2 billion last year, didn't know the system had been hacked until threat actor Brain Cipher took credit for the breach on its blog in early December. 'Deloitte missed some issues that we certainly hold them responsible for,' Gov. Dan McKee said at a Thursday morning press conference. 'We also want to make sure that people know that we will pursue all avenues in our efforts to ensure accountability.' One of the things Deloitte appears to have missed was its own incident logs, according to the long-awaited RIBridges forensic report by CrowdStrike from Dec. 16, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2025, and finally released to the public in an abbreviated form Thursday morning. The state hired the Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity firm to conduct the third-party analysis. Full forensic reports of cyber breaches are not typically available for security reasons, but the publicly released summary contains several telling details, although some are confined to footnotes. One of those revelations in the fine-print: CrowdStrike did not have complete access to crucial logs needed for its analysis, such as those relating to firewall alerts or multifactor authentication (MFA), the means by which modern networks confirm and allow user access. 'We are concerned. Obviously, that is an issue,' the state's Chief Digital Officer Brian Tardiff said at the press briefing. 'The logs were not made available. That doesn't mean that they weren't there.' Still, Tardiff added the exclusion of the logs has prompted the state to review its policies regarding vendor contracts, so that vendor agreements reflect 'our expectations and policy requirements for retention of logs,' he said. 'The State's Enterprise Policy includes logging requirements, which vendors are supposed to follow,' Karen Greco, a spokesperson for the Department of Administration, wrote in an email to Rhode Island Current shortly after the press conference. Greco pointed to the state's audit and accountability policy for vendors in a follow-up email, which mandates that contractors and vendors log authentication events, firewall changes, and remote access, and keep those records for six months or more. The CrowdStrike findings also led the state to revise the total number of people affected by the breach. The state notified 657,000 people in January that their personal information may have been compromised if they had previously applied for benefits like food stamps and Medicaid, or signed up for health insurance via the state marketplace. But 114,879 people were ruled out after the forensic review. However, the investigation identified another 107,757 people who had not been discovered in the initial sweep, including about 30,000 people who never applied for benefits managed through the eligibility system. The final tally now stands at 644,401 people whose data — including Social Security numbers, birthdates, and potentially health information — may have been exposed. The state will be sending out a fresh batch of letters to the newly identified residents with information on how they can access free credit monitoring services through Experian, Jonathan Womer, the administration department's director, said. The deadline to sign up for free credit monitoring is Aug. 31. McKee said the state is pondering legal action and that the office of Attorney General Peter Neronha is looking into the matter. 'Well, obviously we're not pleased by it and we're acting accordingly,' McKee said. 'That this would be undetected for that period of time is something that is just unacceptable.' 'At this time, the State is pursuing all available remedies,' AG spokesperson Tim Rondeau said in an email. Deloitte did not respond to a request for comment. But the company did RSVP to the governor when he asked a representative to attend Thursday's press briefing. 'We did invite Deloitte to be here today. They declined,' McKee said. A total of 338 different environments constitute the RIBridges system, Tardiff said, and 28 were accessed by the cybercriminals. Brain Cipher relied on good old fashioned credential theft to begin its invasion, according to the CrowdStrike report. A username and password pilfered from a Deloitte representative initially opened the gate to the system's backend through a VPN (virtual private network), Tardiff said, although neither he nor CrowdStrike could specify how the criminals gained those credentials. From there, the criminals exercised patience. Tardiff said the hackers used 'a series of activities to maintain connection.' After setting up camp in two RIBridges servers, the attacker used a Windows exploit to run their own malicious program that would expand their privileges across the system's infiltrated areas. CrowdStrike was unable to recover the program used. The masquerade continued on July 12 when attackers set up a reverse proxy tool, which essentially served as a backdoor into the system, one only the hackers could access. With the reverse proxy in place, Brain Cipher could move in and out of the system incognito, appearing as normal network traffic along the way. The attackers browsed files, folders and portions of the RIBridges system between July and November. Despite tripping a firewall alarm on Sept. 10, 2024 that blocked an outgoing connection, hackers managed to move data to their own server in the final weeks of November, with this migration triggering 397 'Large Outbound Transfer' alerts along the way. 'The technology did its job, but there are people and processes that have to follow up on what the technology triggers,' Tardiff told reporters. 'That's part of what we're continuing to look into.' Brain Cipher last accessed its remote connection on Thanksgiving Day. On Dec. 4, 2024, the cybercriminal gang posted a threat on its dark web blog that it planned to leak Deloitte's information within weeks. Deloitte in turn notified the state a day later. But state officials did not take the network offline until Dec. 13, 2024, when they discovered the reverse proxy tool. Had it remained in the system, the tool could have allowed the criminals to remain there undetected and possibly deploy ransomware, according to the report. CrowdStrike found no evidence, however, that the hackers were able to enter other state networks. Still, data seemingly unrelated to RIBridges comprised portions of the leaked data found in independent analyses. The situation is 'fairly complicated,' Tardiff said, so he summarized why the breach may have affected people who never applied for benefits themselves. States are granted 'a single connection to the Social Security Administration' (SSA) for its filesharing and identity verification services, Tardiff said. In Rhode Island, RIBridges is designated as the sole pass-through portal for this data. Agencies unrelated to RIBridges may use it indirectly, which accounted for many of the newly identified people who may have been affected. That included two people with data connected through the Department of Children Youth and Families, six people whose data passed through the Office of Child Support Services, and 29,629 people whose data was submitted to the National Directory of New Hires, which employers use to report new employees to comply with federal laws meant to enforce child support and prevent benefit fraud. 'No other state data systems or any federal data systems were compromised, only the pass-through files from the state agencies identified,' Tardiff said. The link to download and access the stolen and published data posted on the dark web 'has been largely unusable,' Tardiff said, adding the state has asked Deloitte and CrowdStrike to continue monitoring the Brain Cipher site. But it appears that Brain Cipher revamped its download page on April 14, according to Connor Goodwolf, a cybersecurity researcher who has followed the breach since its genesis last December. Goodwolf in a text to Rhode Island Current, said the stolen data appears to be more easily accessible than before. 'The brain cipher download for the data now works uninterrupted,' Goodwolf said via text message Thursday. Rhode Island's IT department wants a fresh install of 15 full-time roles In the meantime, Tardiff said the state is a few weeks away from tentatively selecting a vendor to 'modernize' RIBridges, a procurement project that started last September. The revamped benefits platform could take 18 to 24 months to fully develop and roll out, McKee added. Until then, the state is stuck with Deloitte. But the state is seeking to minimize its reliance on the vendor. Thursday's press conference came two days after Tardiff and Womer visited the Senate Committee on Finance to make the case for rebooting the state IT department with a budget-neutral request for 15 new full-time IT hires, including an RIBridges Technical Lead. The ask comes via one of McKee's fiscal 2026 budget amendments. That request for a more localized IT workforce 'was influenced by the [CrowdStrike] analysis, the outcome of the analysis and the identification that we need qualified state employees managing state systems,' Tardiff said. Can in-house staff defend and monitor the state's systems better than an outside contractor like Deloitte? 'Directly under our control? Yes,' Tardiff told reporters. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Health care spending in R.I. exceeds predictions. A new report looks at why.
A box of Wegovy (semaglutide) is pictured in a refrigerator, where the drug needs to be stored as it's not shelf-stable. Also marketed as a diabetes medication called Ozempic, the drug was approved for weight loss in 2021, and Rhode Island prescriptions and spending for the drug soared between 2021 and 2023. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Islanders' health care spending rose 7.8% in 2023 over the previous year — a new state record — thanks in part to more hospital visits and the popularity of pricey weight-loss drugs, according to a new report out Monday. The finding exceeded the 6% rate anticipated by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC), which published the annual report on health care spending and quality. The office is charged with multiple duties regulating the Ocean State's health insurance plans, including data collection and yearly review of health insurers' proposed rate increases. Hospital discharges, outpatient visits, and prescription fills are some of the data points that help OHIC determine utilization, or the overall volume of medical services used by Rhode Islanders. In 2023, Rhode Islanders amassed a total of $9.52 billion in health care spending, or $9,892 per person. All three of the state's major insurance markets — commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid — went past the 6% cap. The growth cap had already been enlarged from the rate used from 2019 to 2022, which was 3.2%. 'We expected growth, but we observed much higher growth than we expected,' Commissioner Cory King said. 'It wasn't just price driven, which would account for inflation, but it was utilization driven.' A significant driver for increased spending: weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy. The drugs belong to a family of type-2 diabetes management drugs called GLP-1 agonists, which work by suppressing glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar. In 2023, a total of eight branded GLP-1 drugs comprised $63.2 million in insurance claims, compared to $50.7 million for 122 other drugs in the diabetes and weight-loss categories combined. That's not all that surprising, given that the drugs cost about $1,000 a dose, King said. 'The most frustrating part of my job — and I think other state leaders across the country will agree — is that states just don't have control over drug pricing,' King said. The 7.8% increase is the highest since OHIC began analyzing spending data in 2019. The office calculates an approximate, annual ceiling for the growth of Rhode Islanders' health care costs, leaving room to accommodate inflation, wages and other economic factors. But prediction could only go so far in a year when inflation soared to its highest in 40 years. Commercially insured patients saw an increase of about $6,735 per person (a 6.9% increase) and Medicaid patients paid $7,678 more (a 6.7% increase). Medicare represented an 8.7% increase in per person spending, for about $14,400 annual spending per enrollee — something of an anomaly, King thought, as the Medicare growth rate has historically been 'relatively low.' Spending also differed by insurers, according to OHIC's estimates. In the commercial market, both Tufts Health Plan and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island were under the cost growth target, at a little under 5% growth. United Health Care saw an 8.5% increase in spending, and Neighborhood Health Plan rose 17.4%. Rhode Island's spending growth was in line with other states that saw unexpected jumps: Connecticut experienced 7.8% growth, Massachusetts 8.6%, and Delaware 9.1%. After Ozempic secured widespread cultural and clinical popularity for its success in rapidly reducing appetite and weight, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the rebranded-but-identical Wegovy for weight-loss in 2021. OHIC's analysis found that claims for 30-day prescriptions of the weight-loss drugs doubled from 2022 to 2023, from about 9,000 to over 18,000. Total commercial spending on GLP-1 drugs totaled over $121.4 million from 2021 to 2023, and spending tripled in that time. As demand for weight-loss drugs rises, states grapple with Medicaid coverage King acknowledged the long-term benefits or risks of GLP-1 drugs as weight-loss treatments are still unclear. They might save money in the long run, by lowering obesity rates and the chronic conditions associated with it. 'But in the short term, we have a tradeoff as a society, as 'Can we afford to pay the prices that are required?'' King said. Insurers are asking the same question. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts announced in April it would begin covering GLP-1 drugs for diabetes only. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island did not have an immediate comment Monday on the status of GLP-1 coverage in Rhode Island. The company noted in December 2024 that in the first three quarters of 2024, it experienced a $30 million operating loss, generated partially by a $29 million increase in prescription drug costs, including GLP-1 agonists. Health care spending is expected to go up from year to year, the report acknowledges. 'In fact, there are components of Rhode Island's delivery system, such as primary care, community-based behavioral health care and Medicaid-funded community providers, where spending needs to grow to promote access to care in the most appropriate, lowest cost setting,' the report states. This year's report makes two broad recommendations to improve the state's understanding of how people are spending money on health care: Boost investment in primary care across all payers, not just commercial ones. Expand state oversight of health care systems and hospitals by making hospital finances more transparent and publicly accessible. King foreshadowed the first recommendation on April 29 when he joined Gov. Dan McKee and other state health leaders to announce a slate of initiatives meant to repair the state's primary care challenges. If the state builds out its primary care infrastructure, the data should reflect fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations, more efficiency and healthier people, King said. 'I don't want people to walk away with the inference that, 'Oh gosh, health care spending is increasing so rapidly; we can't spend any money anywhere,'' King said. King cited the pandemic as one possible reason Rhode Island saw more health care spending than predicted, given widespread interruption in regular checkups and delays in preventative care. The 2023 data also begins to capture the consumer consequences of rising inflation since 2021. OHIC recommends maximum rate increases for commercial insurers, but King said his office can only adjust these levers sparingly because of multiyear contracts in the private market. There aren't opportunities to negotiate higher rates accounting for inflation until contracts are up for renewal, he said. So far, the preliminary 2024 data shows more of the same, King added, with inflation driving costs, King's office can't regulate self-funded employer plans, which account for about 60% of employer-sponsored health coverage statewide. 'We don't have any say in those contracts, but I think we have influence,' King said. That influence is not entirely symbolic, King thought, as many of Rhode Island's self-funded plans are issued by health care systems themselves, like Brown University Health: 'I think they should understand the importance of equitable payment for primary care.' The report's second recommendation seeking greater state oversight of health care delivery calls for the creation of a statewide data system that can gather, analyze and publicly share information on hospital system finances. The report notes similar databases in Colorado and Massachusetts as examples worth following. Data like hospitals' operating margins remains somewhat opaque. A unified data system, King said, could help 'create a more balanced picture of how the dollars flow from the taxpayer and the worker down to the provider, and then are redistributed to workers and capital.' The most frustrating part of my job — and I think other state leaders across the country will agree — is that states just don't have control over drug pricing. – Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King In 2023, inpatient and outpatient hospital care combined made up more than 40% of all health care spending in the state, the report states. In the commercial market, outpatient costs alone increased 11.3%, from $1,618 to $1,801 per person, and emergency department spending rose 12.5%. Hospitals usually charged more for basic services like lab tests. In 2023, a routine bloodwork panel may cost $39 at a hospital-based provider, compared to $9 in a non-hospital setting. Hospitals were paid up to seven times more than outpatient clinics to deliver injections and chemotherapies. A typical cost for a medicine injection might be $23 at a standalone clinic, but $235 in a hospital setting. Imaging and endoscopies sported price tags triple in size when delivered in hospitals. 'The disclosure of those price differences was not meant to say, 'Oh, gosh, hospitals are bad and non-hospital settings are good,'' King said. 'There are reasonable factors at play for why hospitals charge more…But there is an opportunity for savings, ultimately to the consumer and to the employers and the taxpayer, by shifting more care to these non-hospital settings.' The full report, plus summaries and a chart book, is available on OHIC's website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
McKee announces steps to bolster RI's primary care system
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee held a news conference Tuesday morning to announce steps the state will take to strengthen its primary care system. McKee's office said he will lay out a series of short and long-term actions, which include addressing the impact of the Anchor Medical closure and finding ways to prevent future interruptions in Rhode Islanders' health care. Resources available for patients losing Anchor Medical providers The governor will be joined by members of his Health Care System Planning Cabinet. Watch the news conference live in the player above. 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
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rhode Islanders shred utility bills at State House to protest rising costs
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Islanders gathered outside Gov. Dan McKee's office Thursday evening and took turns shredding their utility bills before urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would protect them from the 'inappropriate and unnecessary costs' imposed by Rhode Island Energy. 'Our utility bills keep rising and are breaking our budgets,' Rep. Art Handy said. 'But under Rhode Island Energy's monopoly, we're forced to pay for their corporate perks — on top of what we already have to pay to make sure their shareholders make a profit.' Rhode Islanders have been expressing frustration for months about higher than usual utility costs, with some residents claiming to have received bills for more than $1,000. 'Pretty much everyone agrees: monopolies are bad for consumers, and they're bad for the economy,' Rep. Megan Cotter said. 'We have a clear opportunity to rein in the inappropriate and unnecessary expenses that drive up costs as Rhode Islanders fall behind on payments.' TARGET 12: Expensive electric bills put RI clean energy policies into spotlight Handy and Cotter are among the state lawmakers working to protect Rhode Islanders from rising utility rates. Cotter has introduced legislation that would cap the utility's profit margin for electric and gas at 4% in any year. 'We need tightened, updated rules that will lower rates and protect consumers from getting screwed over — we need the General Assembly to act now,' Cotter said. Handy's legislation would prohibit utilities from using customers' payments to cover lobbying, advertising and communications. Rhode Island Energy President and CEO Greg Cornett is blaming the higher utility costs on state-mandated charges for clean energy, noting that those policies are out of their control. 'I'm not here to make judgment on whether those costs are good or bad,' Cornett told 12 News. 'We certainly support the state's clean energy and climate goals, but the question is, at what cost?' But Rhode Island Working Families Party's Zack Mezera believes the utility is deflecting blame for those high costs. 'A massive company blaming high bills on green energy gives away the game: they'd rather sacrifice the climate and Rhode Islanders' health than cut into profits for their lobbyists and shareholders,' Mezera said. 'Pitting Rhode Islanders against each other over green energy is a divide and conquer tactic to distract us from what they're really doing: getting every penny they can from us, the consumer.' Other proposals being considered include giving customers with serious illness certifications more time to pay their bills before their utilities are turned off, capping utility rate increase to the Consumer Price Index and establishing an income-driven payment plan. 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.
