Featured in the Cranston Herald
You don’t need to work in health care to know that Rhode Island’s system is struggling.
Maybe you’ve been trying to find a primary care provider only to end up on a waitlist for months or even years. Maybe you recently had a medical situation that needed immediate attention only to find yourself sitting in a crowded emergency room. Maybe you received a letter in the mail from your primary care provider or specialist notifying you that they’re moving services to Massachusetts or Connecticut. Or maybe the services or programs that you rely on have been cut altogether.
We all know that these are not one-off stories – these are symptoms of a system in crisis. Any of these challenges on their own are cause for alarm. All these challenges combined, during a difficult budget year at the State House, are cause for grave concern.
For far too long, hospitals and health care workers have been sounding the alarm about the instability of Rhode Island’s health care system. This year, the alarm was too loud to ignore, and not only did the General Assembly recognize the scale of the crisis, but it also stepped in to act.
Thanks to the leadership of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Valarie Lawson, the FY 2026 state budget included more than $126 million in new health care investments. This included a $62.8-million increase in service rates for care at hospitals, helping to support hospitals in their ability to offer essential services like emergency care and inpatient treatment. Lawmakers included a $26.4-million increase in Medicaid reimbursement for primary care, bringing rates up to 100% of Medicare reimbursement rates. This will help level the playing field for providers and strengthen the state’s ability to recruit and retain physicians. The budget also made a $10.5-million investment in our safety – net health centers like Providence Community Health Centers, Thundermist Health Center and Wood River Health. There was also a $21.3-million increase in reimbursement rates for nursing homes.
In addition to critical budget investments, the General Assembly also approved legislation protecting the federal 340B program, a vital source of funding that allows the state’s safety-net hospitals and community health centers to provide care and medication to tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
For hospitals in Rhode Island, the investments made in this year’s state budget were critical first steps on the path to stabilization and recovery, reflecting about a third of the critical investments recommended in HARI’s Health Care Action Package.
But there’s more to be done.
With these investments as a foundation, we look forward to continuing to work with state leaders in support of the long-term recovery of our health care system. After years of underinvestment, this will require sustained focus and attention as we face workforce shortages, gaps in reimbursement rates and health care workers leaving the industry. While there is turmoil at the federal level, we all know that without a strong health care system, Rhode Islanders will suffer, and delaying care actually drives up the cost.
For these reasons, we need to stay the course, building on these recent investments by continuing to align reimbursement rates with the actual cost of care, invest in Medicaid and develop a long-term strategy for stability.
Let’s not backslide. Rhode Islanders can’t afford it.
