The Ocean State Policy Research Institute, a research organization in Rhode Island, weighs in on a plan by Gov. Carceiri's Medicaid proposal, which requires federal approval.

The proposal, it says, is being portrayed nationally as a "gloom and doom scenario," but the institute advises readers to consider that Medicaid in Rhode Island has grown substantially in both size (number of people) and scope (of services), and that "RITEcare is actually a better coverage than Blue Cross and United Healthcare that you and I (working stiffs) can purchase."

In an earlier comment on its blog, the institute compares the global waiver proposal with the welfare reform proposals offered by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, of Wisconsin. Welfare reform "works because it brings local control and scrutiny over the implementation of the program rather than it being run by bureaucrats in DC. The global Medicaid waiver will provide the same freedoms for the implementation of healthcare here in RI."

The Providence Journal, meanwhile, calls it an "unprecedented attempt to transform [the state's] health care system."

The reaction from the political class has been sharp, with every member of the state's congressional delegation warning against it. Rhode Island's leading newspaper has a curious reaction, putting the word "entitlement" in scare quotes. Last time I checked, Medicaid fit the definition of "entitlement."