As RI’s Healthcare Begins to Collapse, McKee and Neronha Scramble

As RI’s Healthcare Begins to Collapse, McKee and Neronha Scramble

Many in Rhode Island’s healthcare industry have warned over the past few years that the existing system was unstable and could collapse.

Now, it appears to be collapsing. SEE RELATED ARTICLES BELOW

Healthcare is one of the state’s largest employment sectors — according to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training’s latest industry profile (published March 2025), the healthcare industry cluster employs 67,938 workers in Rhode Island with an average annual wage of $65,570.

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As GoLocal exclusively reported earlier today, the sale of the bonds to finance the purchase of CharterCARE from the bankrupt Prospect Holding Company and to turn it over to Centurion Foundation, a Georgia-based company that has never run a hospital, is in question.

Governor Dan McKee has submitted a last-minute budget article to redirect $10 million from existing programs and provide the money to the troubled CharterCARE.

- McKee’s plan includes scooping $3,280,000 from the Individual and Family Support Program at Health and Human Services.

- Taking $1,000,000 from the Office of Healthy Aging Program.

- Decrease Federal Funds in the Office of Healthy Aging Program by another $1,336,449.

Then, McKee’s budget plan is to appropriate an increase of $10 million to CharterCARE’s Fatima Hospital. The budget article amendment will be heard on Thursday before House Finance Committee.

 

Attorney General Peter Neronha Has Also Gotten Into the Act

On Wednesday morning, Neronha held a press conference to announce a number of initiatives. This, while the CharterCARE plan that he has helped to craft, appears to be in some level of peril.

“One piece of legislation is intended to stabilize primary care in particular. We have prior authorization [elimination] legislation. We also have an amendment to our Hospital Conversation Act authority,” said Neronha.

“It’s always about the money…and the economics. Doctors are moving to Connecticut and Massachusetts because they can make more,” he added. “So what are we going to do about primary care?”

 

The initiatives unveiled by the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday included the following:

 

* filing 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;

 

* introducing legislation to immediately raise Medicaid reimbursement rates to 100% of Medicare rates for primary care providers;

 

* introducing legislation to immediately eliminate nearly 100% of prior authorization requirements for primary care providers;

 

* introducing legislation authorizing the Attorney General to petition the Superior Court to place a hospital into receivership if the facility becomes financially unstable;

 

* issuing proposed regulations to require pre-merger notification of certain material corporate transactions involving medical practice groups, including transactions involving private equity firms;

 

* issuing an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking regarding market oversight of artificial intelligence (AI);

 

* a collaboration between the Attorney General and 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

 

* planning for a new state health care agency to obtain and analyze healthcare data, and inform innovative and effective governmental health care decision-making.