Medicaid Matters
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- Medicaid covers one-third of Rhode Islanders, yet it reimburses hospitals 23–37% less per case than Medicare and commercial insurers, despite serving patients with greater clinical complexity and higher resource needs. Caregivers are paid less, where care costs more.
- Rhode Island Medicaid rates lag 20–60% behind neighboring states, putting the state’s healthcare system at a structural competitive disadvantage.
- The financial impact is severe and unsustainable. In FY25, Brown Health lost $69.8 million.
- Medicaid patients are the most expensive to treat, yet generate a -17% margin, making them the single largest driver of losses.
- This is not a temporary imbalance—it is a structural funding failure. Doctors and hospitals are forced to shift costs onto commercial payers, an approach that is unsustainable.
- As Medicaid continues to underpay while representing a significant share of services, it creates a widening, system-wide deficit that threatens access to care for all Rhode Islanders, job loss and significant impact on the RI economy.
Last Action
01/15/2026 Introduced, referred to House Finance
House • Jan 15, 2026Latest Version
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