PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Chafee's administration is seeking federal approval to renew the so-called "global waiver" for Rhode Island's Medicaid program that it says has helped control healthcare costs for the state.
The five-year agreement, officially called the "Global Consumer Choice Compact," was signed in June 2008 under Republican Governor Donald Carcieri's administration. It is scheduled to end Dec. 31.
In a 100-plus page application to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Chafee's administration says the factors that originally prompted the state to seek the waiver -- including the high costs of Medicaid, a troubled state economy and an aging population -- remain.
The administration is requesting to continue the existing waiver, with some changes.
Chafee's Executive Office of Health and Human Services is holding two public forums on the draft proposal.
The first is Jan. 28 at the Eleanor Slater Hospital in Cranston.