PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A missed deadline for Rhode Island officials to appeal a court ruling involving Medicaid payments to nursing homes could cost the state millions of dollars.
The mistake led the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to place two staff lawyers on administrative leave while officials investigate why the May 23 deadline was missed. Officials are asking a judge to accept the appeal anyway.
A judge ruled in April that the state illegally continued a 2 percent Medicaid rate reduction in the 2015-2016 budget in calculations for subsequent budgets. The ruling came in complaint filed by 59 nursing homes.
Officials say if the state loses the appeal, it would have to pay nursing homes a total of $8 million annually for each fiscal year dating back to 2016-2017.
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