Gary Alexander, Rhode Island’s Secretary of Health & Human Services writes:

Since January 2009, we have earned an innovative [Medicaid] waiver from the federal government called the Global Consumer Choice Compact. This waiver gives our state Medicaid funds in the form of a block grant. …

The centerpiece of Rhode Island’s waiver is that it provides budgetary certainty for the state – a cap of $12.075 billion through 2013. The cap forces Rhode Island to create cost containment strategies and medical models in the right place and right setting, whereas, the traditional Medicaid spending plan is open-ended and encourages states to spend as much as they can in order to gain additional federal money. …

Through fiscal year 2011, the Global Waiver has saved approximately $100 million and is one of the reasons why Rhode Island possessed a state budget surplus in state fiscal year 2010.

Read the whole article: Why Rhode Island is the Model for the Nation at Health Reform Report.

(Via Galen.org)