NBC10 Wingmen: How RI was sold on reinventing Medicaid

What’s so bad about Medicaid consuming 30 percent of the state budget? Caring for anyone is expensive, and the indigent are certainly no exception. My question is how did we reduce the care and welfare of our most vulnerable neighbors down to a mere 30 percent of overall state spending.

And what’s so bad about having the second highest Medicaid enrolee costs in the country? Don’t we want the enrollees to enjoy good benefits? If so, and I think that’s a major league if, wouldn’t the more actionable number be the cost per resident, or per taxpayer? In total Medicaid spending, RI is the 13th lowest in the nation.

Putting aside the proposed Medicaid cuts and potential efficiencies, which Bill Rappleye discusses with Health Secretary Elizabeth Roberts, Jon Brien and I debate how Rhode Island debated reinventing Medicaid on the most recent edition of NBC10 Wingmen:

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