PROVIDENCE, RI– Attorney General Peter F. Neronha is urging state leadership to increase RI Medicaid reimbursement after Providence Community Health Centers announced it will lay off 10 percent of its workforce due to low reimbursement rates.
“Yesterday’s news about significant layoffs at Providence Community Health Centers is as alarming as it is unsurprising. It’s quite simple really: our health care system will continue to collapse unless state leadership invests and raises Medicaid reimbursement rates to support the financial needs of Rhode Island health care practices. And to be clear, this latest hit to our health care system could not have been predicted by quarterly financial reports.”
Providence Community Health Centers (PCHC) is a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center that provides primary health care services to more than 80,000 residents in Providence.
It’s one of the largest primary health care providers in Rhode Island, that treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. Services include Family Practice, Adult Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynecology, Behavioral Health, Optometry, Dental Care and Express Care.
PCHC is the largest of nine health center organizations in Rhode Island that provide care to nearly 200,000 patients in the state.
“Providence Community Health Centers is a well-respected, critically important organization, and yet, they are struggling to survive; the latest victim in this state’s unwillingness to address reimbursement rates. What’s infuriating is that we know what the problem is, and we know how to fix it, but instead we are rolling out modest health care grants and commissioning more studies. Rhode Islanders deserve quality, affordable, and accessible health care, and state leadership is failing to deliver it.” Neronha said in a statement Friday.
“I urge the General Assembly to support increases in the state budget for Medicaid reimbursement. It’s not too late yet. But it almost is,” he said.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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