By Richard Salit
Providence Journal, April 1, 2015
Gina Raimondo’s “Reinventing Medicaid” campaign is a misguided effort based on “faulty and misleading” figures of what the program costs, say groups pushing for legislation to create a single-payer health insurance system in Rhode Island.
The state chapters of Physicians for a National Health Program and HealthCare Now are jointly disseminating to the media materials critical of Raimondo’s goal of making close to $90 million, or 9 percent, in cuts in Medicaid spending.
“Did Governor Raimondo overstate Rhode island’s Medicaid costs to create false R.I. Medicaid crisis?” they ask.
The two groups plan to make their case in Newport on Wednesday when Raimondo’s “Working Group to Reinvent Medicaid” holds the last in a series of four “town hall” forums around the state to gather public feedback. It will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the East Bay Family Health Center, 6 John H. Chafee Blvd.
The groups support passage of a House bill (H-5387) that would establish the Rhode Island Comprehensive Health Insurance Program (RICHIP). All residents would go through this single new agency to acquire health insurance.
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