R.I. Senate introduces health care legislative package
The Rhode Island Senate chamber is seen empty during the legislative recess in summer 2024. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Nine bills arriving soon on the Rhode Island Senate floor aim to make health care more affordable and accessible for Rhode Islanders.
The legislative package was announced Wednesday morning by Senate leadership and Sen. Melissa Murray, a Woonsocket Democrat who now chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. Murray was appointed last month to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Joshua Miller, who decided not to seek re-election last year.
'The bills we are highlighting with this announcement are key parts of the Senate's action on health care, but there is a great deal of other extremely important work being done by many of our colleagues,' Murray said in a statement. 'Solving this crisis cannot be done through a single piece of legislation, or by one collection of bills.'
Murray's contribution to the stack of bills would eliminate prior authorization for therapies and medical services ordered by primary care doctors. The bill does include some exceptions that the potential law 'shall not be construed to prohibit prior authorization requirements for brand-name prescription drugs and controlled substances,' according to its text. Services ordered by doctors with documented histories of fraud or abuse could also continue to be subject to prior authorization.
Murray said in a statement the bill is designed to expedite care for patients and prevent them from getting caught up in insurance obstacles. 'It is the doctors, not insurers, who know best what care is needed for their patients. And we need our primary care doctors focused on providing care, not haggling with insurance companies,' she stated.
Prospect asks federal bankruptcy judge to expedite sale of Roger Williams, Fatima hospitals
Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio pointed to health care issues on his own turf as indicative of the bigger challenges facing Rhode Islanders. He cited the importance of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, which together with Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, is being sold by cash-strapped Prospect Medical Holdings. The sale of both safety net hospitals to prospective buyer The Centurion Foundation must be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge.
'In my own community of North Providence, the situation surrounding Fatima Hospital's future has exemplified many of the challenges we are working to address, and driven home the very real, very serious consequences for Rhode Island families,' Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio said in a statement. 'With the bills in this package, and many other pieces of legislation introduced by my colleagues, the Senate remains focused on making health care less costly, and easier to get, for every resident of our state.'
Sen. Majority Leader Valarie Lawson's bill would see people over age 65 enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B 'guaranteed' the right to enroll in supplemental coverage to cover services not in their standard plan. The enrollment period would be chosen by the state's Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner.
The health care system 'can be a time-consuming headache, for both providers and patients,' especially when it comes to finding care or getting prescriptions, Lawson said in a statement.
Also included in the package:
Medical debt relief. One bill by Sen. John Burke, a West Warwick Democrat, would cap the interest rate on new medical debt to be between 1.5% and 4% annually. Another led by Sen. Jake Bissaillon, a Providence Democrat, would stop liens being placed on homes because of medical debt.
Spread pricing limits. Two bills — one by freshman Sen. Lori Urso, a Pawtucket Democrat, and the other by Sen. Linda Ujifusa, a Portsmouth Democrat — would prohibit spread pricing by health insurers. The practice can be used by pharmacy benefit managers, which often handle prescription drug benefits for health insurance companies, and involves charging payers more for a drug than what it costs at the pharmacy. The benefit managers then keep the difference. Ujifusa's bill specifically targets Medicaid managed plans; Urso's bill focuses on commercial insurers.
Financial aid for doctor education. A bill by Sen. Brian Thompson, a newly elected Woosocket Democrat, would use Medicaid funding to support graduate medical education programs in areas such as trauma care, primary care and maternal and mental health.
Vaccine delivery. A bill by Sen. Robert Britto, a Rumford Democrat, would clarify state law regarding pharmacist administration of vaccines.
Cutting through licensing red tape. A bill by Sen. Peter A. Appollonio Jr., a freshman Warwick Democrat, wants to address medical license backlogs by permitting the Rhode Island Department of Health to evaluate medical licensing applications if the relevant public body which would normally approve it has not been able to meet quorum in the past 30 days. The Rhode Island Department of Health Could approve or deny the license.
The bills, once introduced, will go to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services for initial hearings.
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