S.3020

Rhode Island S3020 mandates automatic cost-of-living adjustments to Medicaid reimbursement rates for assisted living services.

Rhode Island S3020 requires the executive office of health and human services (EOHHS) to apply an automatic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to Medicaid reimbursement rates for assisted living services. The COLA is based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Northeast Region, as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This adjustment applies uniformly across all Medicaid-assisted living rate tiers and is automatic, not subject to annual appropriation approval or discretionary adjustment by the executive branch.