Rhode Island

Rhode Island Senate Introduces Sweeping Health Care Reform Package – Newport Buzz

Published

2 years ago

March 5, 2024

Rhode Island Senate Introduces Sweeping Health Care Reform Package – Newport Buzz

In a significant move Tuesday, leaders in the Rhode Island Senate introduced a comprehensive 25-bill legislative package designed to enhance health care access and affordability across the state.

Unveiled as the Rhode Island HEALTH Initiative (Holistic Enhancement and Access Legislation for Total Health), the package focuses on four key pillars: consumer protection, provider availability and care quality, cost containment, and health system financial stability.

The announcement came from Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, Senate Majority Leader Ryan W. Pearson, Senate Health & Human Services Committee Chairman Joshua Miller, Senate Environment & Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Alana M. DiMario, a licensed mental health counselor, and Senate Health & Human Services Committee Secretary Pamela J. Lauria, a primary care nurse practitioner.

Addressing the critical state of the health care system, President Ruggerio emphasized the urgent need for accessible and affordable care for all Rhode Islanders. He commended the collaborative efforts of the Senate in crafting this legislative package and acknowledged the challenges faced by community hospitals, including Fatima in his district.

Majority Leader Pearson highlighted the importance of taking a holistic approach to address the interconnected factors affecting the health care system. He expressed gratitude for the knowledgeable and dedicated Senate membership committed to addressing the challenges faced by the state.

Consumer Protection Measures

Chairwoman DiMario, drawing on her experience as a licensed mental health counselor, stressed the significance of consumer protection in the initiative. The consumer protection measures include:

Hospital determination of Medicare & Medicaid eligibility for uninsured patients
State purchase of medical debt through ARPA funding
Prohibition on medical debt reporting to credit bureaus
Medical debt interest rate cap
Prohibition on medical debt attachments
Surprise billing protections for ambulance services

Provider Availability & Care Quality Improvements

Senator Lauria, a primary care nurse practitioner, addressed the shortage of health care providers as a pressing concern. The measures to enhance provider availability and care quality include:

Enhanced Curriculum & Clinical Training
Primary Care Scholarship Program
Medicaid reimbursement for mental health intern work
Uniform Telehealth Act
Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact
Counseling Compact
Audiology Compact
Physician Assistant Compact
Occupational Therapy Compact
NCLEX pending exemption
Physical therapy licensing

Cost Containment Strategies

Committee Chairman Miller highlighted the complexity of health care policy and the importance of cost containment. The cost containment measures include:

Creation of a drug affordability commission
Pharma Coupons
Separate NPI for off-site procedures
Price transparency

Health System Financial Stability

Leader Pearson emphasized the need for overall financial stability in the health care system. The measures to ensure financial stability include:

OHIC dual mandate
Dental medical loss ratio
Adding primary care to rate review
Low-income drug program

The legislative package has garnered support from various stakeholders, including Debra Hurwitz, executive director of the Care Transformation Collaborative of RI, who praised the initiative’s efforts to address the primary care workforce shortage and enhance training opportunities for health care providers in Rhode Island.

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Rhode Island

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

Published

2 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.

Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.

According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.

The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.

The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.

State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Rhode Island

Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.

Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.

McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.

“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”

“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”

The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.

The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.

At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.

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Rhode Island

Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

As the two-year anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, widowed single father Scott Naso is sounding an alarm to fellow parents across the country — and especially in Rhode Island, where he lives with his now 4-year-old daughter, Laila.

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