PROVIDENCE –– The critics filled the room. And one by one, they took turns denouncing the unprecedented plan Governor Carcieri says will transform Rhode Island’s health-care system for the better while saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over the next five years.
“The risks and unknowns of this global waiver as presented are too great for our state to bear at this crucial financial crossroads,” said Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, who led the chorus of opposition yesterday at a special joint session of the House and Senate finance committees dedicated to the governor’s sweeping “global Medicaid waiver” plan.
The waiver, if accepted by federal regulators and endorsed by the General Assembly, would limit spending on health care programs that consume nearly one quarter of all state spending and touch one in six Rhode Islanders, including those in public schools, nursing homes and community hospitals.