Dive Brief:
- The state of Rhode Island will receive federal funding up to $129.7 million to update how it operates its Medicaid program and to bolster its healthcare workforce training, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced Monday.
- The state has framed the effort as “Reinventing Medicaid 2.0,” its second stage in transforming the healthcare program that comprises nearly a third of the state's annual budget, which amounted to $2.3 billion from 2014 to 2015, with the state and federal government each covering about half that cost, according to a WPRI.com report.
- The funding is authorized to take place over five years. Funding for years four and five will be contingent upon renewal of the demonstration in 2018.
Dive Insight:
Rhode Island's focus on Medicaid improvement comes just as the incoming Republican administration, under President-elect Donald Trump, plans to up-end the ACA, which included Medicaid expansion in which Rhode Island participated along with 30 other states.
Rhode Island's Medicaid overhaul will therefore have to proceed amid some uncertainty, though no federal changes appear imminent given that Republicans are currently at odds within their own party over what aspects of healthcare reform to save or scrap. Republican governors who bucked the party line to implement Medicaid expansion in their states are now fighting to keep it, according to a Washington Post report, at the same time that Republicans in 19 states have continued to block expansion.
As it stands, the plan in Rhode Island is to put about 5% of the incoming federal money toward training and the rest toward improving healthcare infrastructure to allow the state to reshape the program, state Secretary of Health and Human Services Elizabeth Roberts said, citing potential efforts such as implementing EHRs in nursing homes.
State officials say the administration's previous Medicaid updates have put it on track to cut program costs by more than $100 million while also serving more people. Those changes have included payment rate cuts to hospitals and nursing homes.
"These federal funds will help us continue to shift our publicly financed healthcare system towards alternative payment models that ensure we're paying for value, rather than volume of services," Roberts said in a prepared statement. "We look forward to collaborating with many partners to expand our efforts to provide better quality care and better outcomes for more Rhode Islanders."