NEW REPORT ON LONG-TERM CARE REFORM RELEASED BY OSPRI

September 9, 2009

Providence, RI – Today, the Ocean State Policy Research Institute released a new report titled “The Age Wave, The Ocean State, and Long-Term Care” regarding the future of long-term care reform in Rhode Island. The report was based upon an in-depth study of Rhode Island’s health care industry conducted by Steve Moses, OSPRI Fellow for Health Care Policy and President of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform.

“Rhode Island is fortunate to have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to reform our health care system with the Global Medicaid Waiver,” said OSPRI President William Felkner. “Steve [Moses] is an expert in the field of Long-Term Care, and when I contacted him about the Global Medicaid Waiver, he immediately saw the opportunity to bring real reform to the Ocean State.”

Moses spent a number of days interviewing dozens of public officials and related professionals about the state of Rhode Island’s health care system and the impact that the Global Medicaid Waiver could have on long-term care. The report outlines the immediate and underlying problems that the state is facing and proposes potential solutions that would reduce costs to both the state and taxpayers while providing more efficient and effective services.

“Our state government has reached the crest of the wave, and if we don’t act soon to find and implement viable solutions to our health care crisis, it’s all going to come crashing down on us,” Felkner said. “Steve and I look forward to working with both public and private sectors to reform the long-term care system in our state.”

The full report can be found on the Ocean State Policy Research Institute’s website: www.oceanstatepolicy.org/docs/AgeWave.pdf.

About OSPRI:
 
Created in 2007, our work is focused on crafting sound public policy based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values. We offer timely research and analysis on important issues to be shared with elected officials, the media, business leaders, community organizations and individual citizens. In recent months, we have been responsible for such successful projects as the Transparency Train, a public financial and legislative information repository, as well as regular updates published and available on our website and companion blog.
 
About The Transparency Train:
 
The Transparency Train Web Portal (www.transparencytrain.org) provides access to a variety of websites designed to present public information in a Google-style searchable format. These sites include:

• RI Data: contains every budget, payroll, public employee contract and monthly check register for all cities, towns and school districts in Rhode Island
• RI Votes: an online database of legislation and voting records
• LRB Watch: analysis and information on the State Labor Relations Board.
• RI Schools: an interactive website that allows viewers to create comparative graphs of school districts plotting various metrics such as cost per student, test scores and the number of employees (coming Summer 2009)
• RI Donors: will contain a "connect the dots" approach to viewing political and lobbying finances (coming Fall 2009)
• Take Action: a "how-to" manual that shows citizens how to file Freedom Of Information Act requests for public information and what to do if they don't comply