Foulkes' campaign rolls out health care plan
Every state’s healthcare system is struggling thanks to unprecedented federal cuts from the Trump Administration, and Rhode Island is no exception. But our challenges—and our opportunities—differ from other states. Helena’s plan rethinks how Rhode Island can overcome Trump’s disastrous cuts and still deliver quality, affordable healthcare to its people.
“In a state of one million people, we should have some of the best healthcare in the country. I’m excited to share my plan to address the challenges and embrace the opportunities facing our state’s healthcare system,” said Helena. “I’ve spent my entire career in healthcare, and I can’t wait to get to work as your governor to deliver a healthcare system where all Rhode Islanders can see a doctor when they’re sick, can afford to go to the hospital in an emergency, and can live happy, healthy lives.”
Helena’s plan, titled Reimagining Rhode Island Healthcare, includes:
Protecting and Strengthening Medicaid
Medicaid covers nearly half of births in Rhode Island, and almost two-thirds of nursing home residents; over 300,000 adults and children are covered. But inadequate reimbursement rates and Trump administration actions are putting pressure on hospitals and families alike. We need to take action as a state to not only protect Medicaid, but to strengthen it. To accomplish this, Helena will:
- Raise Medicaid Reimbursement Rates. Rhode Island has to be competitive with surrounding states in order to retain and attract healthcare providers like doctors and nurses and clinics to locate here and see patients in Rhode Island. Under Helena’s plan, Rhode Island will raise its Medicaid reimbursement rates to be competitive, and will work to bring along commercial insurers as well.
- Keep Eligible Rhode Islanders Covered. At CVS, Helena oversaw a program to help people navigate ACA enrollment. Given the Trump Administration’s efforts to kick people off of Medicaid through red tape and paperwork requirements, Helena will invest in a similar program to help people keep their insurance and address any gaps in eligibility.
- Work to Drive Down Costs by getting serious about cost drivers in healthcare, accountability, and transparency.
Boosting Rhode Island’s Healthcare Workforce
Rhode Island is losing providers of all kinds, and we are doing so at a time when hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders lack a primary care clinician and the state is short several hundred primary care doctors. To make Rhode Island the most attractive state for doctors and nurses to pursue their careers, Helena will:
- Allow for efficient and effective healthcare delivery. Helena will allow providers to operate at the top of their license, expanding the pool of healthcare workers available to treat Rhode Islanders. And she will make it easier for providers to do their jobs, by removing restrictions that prevent healthcare workers from performing procedures they are qualified to perform.
- Grow Our Healthcare Provider Workforce. Helena’s plan calls for expediting licensing for all providers who move to Rhode Island, expanding loan forgiveness programs for providers who commit to practicing in Rhode Island, investing in Rhode Island’s healthcare worker education pipeline—and making it easier, not harder, for international providers to move to Rhode Island and work here.
- Support Healthcare Providers. Too often, healthcare workers leave their profession because of danger and abuse they face on the job. Helena will create a healthcare worker bill of rights to promote safety for healthcare workers. And she will invest in public transit designed to make it easier for healthcare workers to get to work, while working to make childcare and housing more affordable for all Rhode Islanders—so that the essential workers we rely on to keep us healthy can afford to live and raise their families here.
Bring Care to the Community
Rhode Island is among the oldest states in the nation, which means more chronic disease, higher healthcare costs, growing demand for senior services, and increased accessibility needs for health services. By working to bring care into the community—particularly preventative care—we can save lives and save tax dollars in the process. Helena’s plan will:
- Work with the Community to Tackle Chronic Diseases. With Helena as governor, we will tackle diabetes with community screening and early detection, and take advantage of our state’s small size to invest in community screenings for early detection of chronic diseases. We will increase the proportion of healthcare spending that goes toward primary care, so that we’re catching chronic diseases before they get more serious, and more expensive.
- Expand Access to Health Services. Rhode Island will smartly invest the millions of federal dollars available for rural healthcare, expand school-based behavioral and mental health services, invest in school lunch and breakfast programs to ensure we have healthy kids and healthy schools, and increase access to dental care for all Rhode Islanders.
- Support Seniors and Caregivers. Too often, our seniors and the caregivers they rely on are overlooked in discussions about our healthcare system. Helena will fight for location-agnostic solutions to caregiver shortages and combat senior isolation and loneliness.
Read Helena’s full Reimagining Rhode Island Healthcare
plan here.
