This article reports on a study by CAHPR researchers that found that Rhode Island’s 2010 hospital price growth cap significantly reduced hospital prices and lowered premiums for fully insured health plans by $1,000 per member annually by 2022. However, the policy had limited impact on the self-insured market due to federal ERISA regulations, and the resulting hospital revenue losses have raised concerns about financial sustainability and care quality.

Professors Erin Fuse Brown and Yashaswini Singh warn that private equity’s focus on short-term returns is reshaping healthcare at the expense of patients and providers. From overburdened hospitals to ethical dilemmas in mental health care, their insights expose how profit-driven ownership can undermine clinical priorities and public trust.

The article discusses how home health care workers in Rhode Island are fighting for better wages and working conditions through unionization, but their efforts are at risk due to proposed federal Medicaid cuts. David J. Meyers, a health economist at Brown University, warns that such cuts could have a “massive, qualitative impact on people’s lives” and ultimately increase health care spending as unmet needs at home lead to more hospitalizations and emergency visits.