Investor Presentaiton
An even more sobering picture emerges when looking at how medical bills have
impacted certain racial groups. While 14.9 percent of the overall Rhode Island
population had problems paying medical bills in 2022, a much higher percentage
of Black or African American Rhode Islanders (23.6 percent) experienced this issue.
Black or African American Rhode Island families also reported being unable to pay
for necessities like food, heat or rent at higher rates (5.9 percent) than all Rhode
Island families (3.5 percent).12
Against this backdrop, Rhode Island took on the challenge of slowing spending
growth in 2018 when it became the third state to design a statewide target for
health care spending growth. The target was implemented and became effective
on January 1, 2019. Rhode Island engaged leaders in the state's health care industry
to develop the target, demonstrating their shared commitment to providing Rhode
Islanders with high-quality, affordable health care through greater cost transparency
and increased accountability.
This report presents the findings from the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner's
(OHIC) activities to better understand and monitor the factors affecting health care
spending growth in the state in 2021. Chapter 2 presents 2021 state and market level
performance against the cost growth target (insurer and provider performance are
included in the Appendices). Chapter 3 examines retail pharmacy spending and
utilization patterns based on analysis of the state's All-Payer Claims Database (APCD).
Chapter 4 describes the Rhode Island health care system's performance on quality
metrics. Chapter 5 concludes with a call to action for health care leaders in public and
private sectors to take all reasonable and necessary steps to keep annual spending
growth below the target while maintaining high standards for quality and access.
Rhode Island engaged
leaders in the state's
health care industry
to develop the target,
demonstrating their
shared commitment
to provide Rhode
Islanders with high-
quality, affordable health
care through greater
cost transparency and
increased accountability.
What is the Health Spending Accountability and Transparency Program?
The Rhode Island Legislature authorized OHIC to establish the
Health Spending Accountability and Transparency Program in
July 2022 to improve affordability and facilitate access to high-
quality health care for all Rhode Islanders. The program builds
on voluntary efforts initiated by the Rhode Island Cost Trends
Steering Committee to curb health care spending growth and
achieve the following goals:
■ Understand and create transparency around health care
spending and the drivers of spending growth
■ Create shared accountability for health care spending
and spending growth among insurers, providers, and
government by measuring performance against a spending
growth target tied to economic indicators
■ Lessen the negative impact of rising health care spending on
Rhode Island residents, businesses, and government
The program seeks to achieve these goals by collecting and
analyzing health care spending data to inform meaningful
actions that will slow spending growth.
12 HealthSource RI.
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Annual Report: Health Care Spending and Quality in Rhode IslandView entire presentation