The House Finance Committee begins budget hearings next week, and top of the agenda is Medicaid. One in four Rhode Islanders is enrolled in the health care program for the low income and disabled. The state spends more than a third of its budget on it. But a major effort has been underway to trim expenses and transform the way Medicaid delivers care.

For this week’s The Pulse, we check in with Medicaid head Anya Rader Wallack about their progress, and what to expect as the year unfolds.

Anya Rader Wallack joins Rhode Island Public Radio’s Kristin Gourlay to talk about how she’s implementing a suite of initiatives to save money and improve care. But do we have the workforce to carry out those plans? And are the savings as urgently needed, given the fact that Medicaid spending is not as high as previously thought?