The medical industry is full of acronyms, many of which are long and difficult to understand.
But the acronym given to a package of health care bills introduced Tuesday by state senators is simple and easy to remember: Rhode Island HEALTH Initiative.
“The state is committed to ensuring the strength of our community hospitals, attracting and retaining primary care physicians, and ensuring Rhode Islanders have access to quality, affordable health care,” Senate President Dominic Ruggerio said at a press conference. It is imperative that we focus on this.” Tuesday at the Rhode Island State Capitol.
Cumberland Democratic Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson warned that the 25-point reform plan is not a magic cure for the state’s health care industry woes. Instead, he framed a series of bills as initial treatments in four key problem areas: consumer protection, workforce shortages, patient costs, and the overall financial stability of the health care system.
The focus of this bill is not surprising. Lawmakers, health care professionals and community activists say the devastating pandemic has left patients waiting hours in hospital emergency rooms and struggling to find doctors, therapists and dentists for routine tests and procedures. Blaming it on labor shortages. Meanwhile, the state’s health care workforce continues to suffer from a mass exodus during the pandemic, compounded by uncompetitive wages compared to neighboring states.
And the state’s hospital system remains in a precarious position after years of budget deficits and several failed merger attempts.new proposal under consideration Two hospitals, Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, will be sold to an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization.
The Senate’s proposed policy intentionally avoids hospital sales and mergers, leaving those considerations to the attorney general and state health department.
“We felt they already had the power they needed,” Pearson said in an interview after the press conference. “We wanted to focus on other areas to strengthen the system.”
This includes determining how state and federal funds will be spent as part of the 2025 budget.
Most of the invoices in the package do not include estimated costs. The two exceptions are bills sponsored by Sen. Pam Lauria, a Barrington Democrat and primary care nurse, that would help hire new primary care workers.
Allocates $2.7 million for fiscal year 2025; Funding in later years to be determined by the General Assembly will establish a new office within the Rhode Island Department of Health and 30 new clinical training programs where residents, physician assistant students, and nurse practitioners can hone their skills. He plans to create and oversee the facility.
second bill The professor will spend $3.6 million (divided into $875,000 over the next four years) to create the scholarship program, which will award up to $70,000 annually to medical school students and those aiming to become nurses or physician assistants. He suggests giving dollars. Scholarship recipients must work in the primary health care field in Rhode Island for twice the length of the scholarship period. For example, a medical student who receives a scholarship for up to four years must stay in Rhode Island for her eight years.
“The shortage of health care providers in all aspects of the health system is a particularly urgent concern, starting with primary care and extending to nurses, specialists, counselors, and more,” Lauria said. “To ensure everyone has access to quality care, we need enough health care providers to meet their needs.”
Multiple states approve, medical debt relief a priority
A number of other bills aim to recruit and retain new health care workers, including allowing Rhode Island residents to hire out-of-state licensed social workers, mental health workers, audiologists, It also includes five interstate agreements that provide access to speech-language therapist services and providers. Speech-language pathologists, physician assistants, and occupational therapists.
Closely related to the debate over labor shortages are uncompetitive wages that are causing health care workers to choose jobs in other states with better reimbursement rates.
Governor Dan McKee Draft spending plan for FY2025 The plan includes $135 million in state and federal funding to increase rates for certain Medicaid providers, people who work in certified community behavioral health clinics, and providers who care for infants and young children with developmental disabilities. Includes $1,000,000.
However, the budget proposal does not spread the full increase recommended for Medicaid service providers over three years; the shorter the Timeline Recommended by the Rhode Island Commissioner of Health Insurance (OHIC) and the Rhode Island Department of Health and Human Services. The proposed fee increases also would not apply to primary care physicians, who are not yet studied in his biennial review of OHIC.
The shortage of health care providers in all aspects of the health system is a particularly pressing concern, starting with primary care and extending to nurses, specialists, counselors, and more.
Other bills included in the package offer more potential solutions to the provider fee problem, including requiring OHIC to expand its biennial review to include primary care fees; It also requires closer examination of premium and rate comparability in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Another bill would address finances from a patient perspective, regulating prescription drugs and potentially lowering costs, expanding insurance coverage to include ambulance services, and putting in place guardrails for medical debt, including full forgiveness of large delinquent medical bills. It is an object. For low-income Rhode Islanders. law The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark McKenney, D-Warrick, would leverage bulk purchasing power to pay off the medical debt of low-income Rhode Islanders “on the dollar.” The state is allowed to spend the remainder of the grant.
To qualify, residents must have unpaid medical bills equal to 5% or more of their annual income and at least $600 in debt, or have a household income below the federal poverty level ($60,240 for a single person in 2024). Must be below 400%.
In honor of lawmakers’ bipartisan support for health care reform, the bill also includes legislation sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz, R-North Smithfield. Delacruz’s bill, Partially due to the lack of clarity in the hospital bill she received after giving birth to her child, the hospital provided a consumer-friendly list of “shoppable services,” including prices, along with a machine-readable version. Publication will be required.
Dela Cruz is the only Senate Republican backing the bill, but he said other Republican senators have also made proposals that have not been finalized.
“The health care crisis is a serious issue and deserves bipartisan attention,” she said.
It also includes attention from top leaders in state legislatures other than the Senate.
Olivia DaRocha, a spokeswoman for McKee’s office, said in an email Tuesday that the governor’s office “looks forward” to considering the package.
““Improving the health outcomes of all Rhode Islanders is one of Governor McKee’s three top priorities for our state,” DaRocha said. He cited reimbursement fees and nursing home funding included in the 2025 budget proposal, as well as an executive order signed in February creating a cross-agency health planning cabinet.
“I stand ready to work with stakeholders and partners in the General Assembly to address head-on the challenges facing Rhode Island’s health care system,” DaRocha said.
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarshi said in an emailed statement that the Rhode Island House of Representatives will “carefully consider” the bill after it is considered and approved by the Senate.
