Coalition opposes cuts to RIte Care

PAWTUCKET – A coalition of health care providers, doctors’ groups and community organizations today went publid with its fight to save RIte Care from proposed cuts, with an event at a Pawtucket health center that included the release of data supporting the program’s effectiveness.

As part of his effort to balance the state budget, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has proposed dropping undocumented children from RIte Care, to save $4 million; and restricting coverage for adults to those below 133 percent of the poverty line, vs. the current 185 percent, to save $10.9 million.

Not even Carcieri contends that those people are likely to find coverage elsewhere, so the RIte Care cuts are expected to instantly add to the state’s already fast-swelling ranks of uninsured.

Given that the cost of treating the uninsured is already putting a major strain on the health care system, many in the sector have banded together with advocates for the poor to protect the state and federally funded Medicaid program.

So far, the RIte Care Works coalition includes Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Kids Count, the Rhode Island Medical Society, Providence Community Health Centers, Thundermist Health Center, the Blackstone Valley Community Health Care – which hosted today’s event in its dental clinic – and more than a dozen other organizations.

At the event, the coalition presented data supporting five arguments for keeping RIte Care as it is:

• It promotes better health and education outcomes for children.

• Insuring parents keeps the entire family healthier.

• It is more cost-effective to pay now than pay later.

• RIte Care investments are fiscally responsible.

• Rhode Island voters “strongly support” RIte Care.

“Thanks in large part to the RIte Care program, Rhode Island ranks among the top 10 states in terms of children’s health insurance coverage and child mortality rate,” Elizabeth Burke Bryant, of Rhode Island Kids Count, said in a statement today. “The vast majority of Rhode Island voters support RIte Care and recognize that children’s health is critical to their success in school and in life.”

Added Rep. Elaine Coderre, D-Pawtucket: “This program is a lynchpin of this state’s health care system. Rather than saving the state money, drastic cuts might only serve to shift the costs associated with RIte Care to other, less efficient, parts of the state’s health care system.”

The data provided by the coalition show that children enrolled in RIte Care are much more likely to have a regular primary care provider and to get needed dental care than children who are uninsured. They also are likelier to get immunizations on time, get regular check-ups and get the medicine they need when they are sick or to treat chronic illnesses, such as asthma.

Uninsured parents and children, the coalition noted, are more likely to delay needed care, not fill prescriptions, skip recommended medical tests or treatments, or not see a specialist because of cost – and then seek costly emergency-room care when they have a crisis.

RIte Care costs about $200 per member per month for comprehensive health coverage, the group said. Rhode Island taxpayers only pay $96 of that, with the rest coming from the federal government. Last year, all three RIte Care health plans ranked among the top 10 in the country for quality.

Finally, the coalition cited public opinion: a poll last month showing that more than two-thirds of Rhode Island voters oppose reducing subsidized health care for low-income families, and a March 2007 poll showing that 4 in 5 respondents favored increasing state support for RIte Care while 9 in 10 supported offering affordable coverage to uninsured parents.

RIte Care Works is a statewide public policy coalition whose member organizations include the Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Kids Count, the Rhode Island Medical Society, Providence Community Health Centers, Thundermist Health Center, Blackstone Valley Community Health Care. To learn more, visit www.ritecareworks.org.

RIte Care – a Medicaid program administered by the R.I. Department of Human Services – provides comprehensive health coverage to eligible children, parents and pregnant women including participants in the Family Independence Program. To learn more, visit www.dhs.state.ri.us.