Protect Our Healthcare Coalition announces 2024 legislative priorities

“Rising monthly health insurance premiums and high out-of-pocket costs are a barrier for many Rhode Islanders in getting the care and treatment they need.”

From a press release:

On Tuesday members of the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition, a group of leading consumer and non-profit organizations, unveiled the ‘Individual Market Affordability Act’ (H7694/S2345) at an event to kick off their Campaign for Healthcare Access and Affordability. The new bill, under consideration in the General Assembly, would help low- and moderate-income Rhode Islanders who get coverage through the HealthSourceRI (HSRI) marketplace to cover out-of-pocket costs and premiums. The bill sponsors, Senator Joshua Miller (Democrat, District 28, Cranston) and Representative June Speakman (Democrat, District 68, Bristol, Warren) note that between 2020 and 2022, HSRI documented a 21% increase in out-of-pocket costs in their 2022 Health Insurance Survey, the highest reported out-of-pocket spending since the survey began in 2012.

You can watch the video here:

“The number one issue we hear from the community is the unaffordability of healthcare,” said Shamus Durac, Senior Attorney/Health Policy Analyst at RIPIN and the Coalition’s Chairperson. “Rising monthly health insurance premiums and high out-of-pocket costs are a barrier for many Rhode Islanders in getting the care and treatment they need.” This cost burden was documented in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health Tracker Survey that found nationally, 28% of adults reported they delayed or did not get healthcare due to cost. “Many Rhode Islanders had their Medicaid extended through the pandemic, and the Federal government expanded premium assistance for those with slightly higher incomes,” added Durac. “But with the return of Medicaid renewals and terminations, and the pending expiration of Federal enhanced premium assistance, we need to act.”

Also included on the Campaign’s agenda is a bill sponsored by Senator Sandra Cano (Democrat, District 8, Pawtucket) and Representative Karen Alzate (Democrat, District 60, Pawtucket) (S2399/H7333) that would make an estimated 17,000 older and disabled Rhode Islanders on Medicare eligible for Medicare premium and cost-sharing assistance. The bill would increase the income threshold for the Medicare Savings Program from $20,331 to $28,012 using mostly Federal dollars. 

Maureen Maigret, an advocate with the Senior Agenda Coalition that has led on this issue for several years, notes that “thousands of RI seniors and persons with disabilities on Medicare, but not enrolled in Medicaid, struggle to pay for healthcare. This bill is a win-win, maximizing Federal dollars to help more lower-income people access care and putting money in their pockets to pay for food, rent, and other basic needs.”

A third bill on the Coalition’s agenda would close the loop on their multi-year effort to safeguard the patient protections of the Federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) in state statute. Over previous legislative sessions, the group has supported the Legislature’s work in codifying almost all of the ACA’s patient protections in Rhode Island law, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the mandate for no-cost coverage of preventive services. The last major protection still to be codified is the ACA’s prohibition against annual and lifetime limits (H7091/S2382). 

“It’s important to remember that before the ACA, coming up against insurance barriers was much more common. In 2009, 374,000 Rhode Islanders, more than half of those with private health insurance, were enrolled in plans with fairly low lifetime limits of just $1-2 million,” said Representative Rebecca Kislak (Democrat, District 4, Providence), who has sponsored the bill alongside Senator Miller. “It is heartbreaking to meet a family whose very sick child has exhausted their lifetime insurance limit before their second birthday, and I never want that to happen again.”

Tara Hayes, the mother of a child with profound medical needs, explained, “I fear what a return to pre-ACA health insurance practices could mean for my son and family, and other families like mine whose very life is at risk if we experience a gap or loss in coverage.”

“Many of those who came up against a limit were forced to spend all of their savings to get care, and ultimately had to turn to Medicaid,” said Nina Harrison, Policy Director at the Economic Progress Institute. “Given the ongoing situation in Congress and the vulnerability of the ACA, we must codify this important protection to safeguard all Rhode Islanders and ensure that their healthcare coverage is not just accessible, but meaningful.”

---

---

Protect Our Healthcare Coalition partners and allies include the Economic Progress Institute, Mental Health Association RI, RI NOW, RIPIN, RI Health Center Association, United Way of Rhode Island, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, RI Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty, SEIU Rhode Island Council, Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families, The Womxn Project, HousingWorks RI, Rhode Island Organizing Project (RIOP), Kids Count RI, National Association of Social Workers RI Chapter, Thundermist Health Center, Foster Forward, RI Medical Society, RI Coalition for the Homeless, Rhode Island Working Families Party, Mental Health Recovery Coalition, Oasis Wellness & Recovery Center, RI Community Food Bank, RI Psychological Association, and Advocates for Better Care.