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Hospitals and nursing homes oppose proposed cuts to statutory inflation index in FY2026 budget
Summary
Hospital and long‑term care leaders told the Senate Finance Committee that reducing the statutory inflation adjustment to 2.3% would underfund care, worsen workforce shortages and risk further facility closures; unions urged increases be targeted to frontline caregivers.
Leaders of Rhode Island hospitals and long‑term care providers urged the Senate Finance Committee on March 20 to restore a larger inflation‑based rate increase after the governor proposed lowering the statutory inflation index for nursing facilities and hospitals to 2.3% for FY2026.
John Gage, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Health Care Association, and Lisa Tomasso of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island testified that the proposed 2.3% increase falls short of the statutory 4.2% inflation index and will leave facilities further underfunded after prior years of cuts. "Rhode Island nursing facilities cannot absorb another cut, and we request that members of Senate Finance restore this cut and implement…
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