The Rhode Island General Assembly approved legislation on Tuesday, introduced by Senator Linda Ujifusa and Representative Susan Donovan, to protect coverage for routine childhood and adult vaccines under Rhode Island law.
This bill (S2379A, H7625A), which now goes to the governor, gives Rhode Island a clear statutory framework to ensure vaccines remain accessible, affordable, and grounded in public health science. It requires state-regulated health insurers in Rhode Island to cover vaccines recommended by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) without cost-sharing barriers.
“We don’t have to speculate about the risks of not protecting access to vaccinations,” said Senator Ujifusa (Democrat, District 11, Portsmouth, Bristol). “We can already see the consequences, with measles outbreaks emerging across the country as anti-vaccine messages have gained traction. Rhode Island is acting now to make sure cost and uncertainty never stand in the way of basic public health.”
“Vaccination has been one of the great success stories of public health, protecting not only the vaccinated but also entire communities,” said Representative Donovan (Democrat, District 69, Bristol, Portsmouth). “This bill ensures that here in Rhode Island, coverage for vaccines is protected and that our vaccine guidelines continue to be based on sound medical science.”
The bill comes in response to the Trump Administration’s war on vaccine science. Last year, the U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr replaced all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the independent panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine recommendations. The committee was subsequently reconstituted with new appointees, including individuals who have previously been skeptical of the efficacy of vaccines and the federal pandemic response.
The legislation ensures Rhode Island retains the authority to act promptly and responsibly to protect public health. It follows the lead of other states, including Massachusetts, and ensures that any vaccine recommended by the Rhode Island Department of Health is covered without cost-sharing for every Rhode Islander, whether they have private insurance, Medicaid, or state employee coverage.
The bill passed in the House, but 14 Representatives, Democrats, Republicans, and the one Independent, voted against it:
Over in the Senate, the bill passed with only one vote against.
Here’s the video of the discussion on the House floor:
The discussion on the floor is presented here, edited for clarity, where clarity was possible:
Representative Donovan: H7625 sub A, by myself, mandates that insurers provide health insurance coverage without cost-share requirements for vaccinations recommended by the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) and mandates coverage for the medical assistance program and managed care organizations. This bill was widely supported, and I move for passage.
Representative Charlene Lima: This bill is probably one of the most dangerous, unneeded, and costly progressive ideas that I’ve seen in a very long time. Right ntwo national groups decidecide vaccines. One of them is the American Academy of Pediatrics, the AAP. That’s a professional organization of pediatricians in the United States. They represent 67,000 pediatricians, pediatric medical specialists, and pediatric surgical specialists globally. All their research is done with peer-reviewed studies. These are global professionals.
The second group that decides which vaccines are recommended is the ACIP, a federal advisory committee within the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They decide which vaccines are needed in childhood and adolescence. They got 19 voting members. They’re independent, medical, and scientific public health experts appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. They have six ex officio members from other federal agencies and 30 non-voting liaison representatives from national health.
We have to decide which vaccines our children and the public should take. Two national, global, peer-reviewed scientific experts. What does this bill do? This bill says them or the director of the Department of Health. One person’s going to decide this? The director of the Department of Health? Seriously? Where’s their expertise? Let’s think about this now. The last two directors of the Department of Health had to resign amid a cloud of scandal, but we’re going to let that one person, rather than scientists with peer-review expertise, decide which vaccines our children should get? We’re going to take away that choice from science, from experts, and we’re going to give it to one person? This is blowing my mind. One person. And what’s going to happen?
Who’s going to pay for this [when] that one person says, “Okay, you need this special vaccine.” One person says it. Rhode Island health insurers have to cover it. Okay, healthcare is really great. I mean, this is what happens with these progressive ideas when you don’t look at the consequences of what you’re doing. Right now, your doctor can be writing prescriptions for you. This has happened to me and members of my family. The health insurers don’t want to pay. They’re trying to get out of paying. You’ve got to prove over and over again that you need this prescription. Now we’re going to add that this one person is going to say you need this vaccine. No science, no peer-reviewed studies, no global or nationalist people making this decision. So now this one person says you need vaccine ABC. What are the consequences of that? Public health and safety. Think about that. Public health and safety. So if you don’t get this vaccine that we’re going to force Rhode Island health insurers - our health insurance is going to go up to get this vaccine.
If you don’t get it, guess what? You’re going to get fired. Does that sound ridiculous? Don’t look at me like that. It happened. We fired people for not getting a vaccine. And if you don’t wear a mask without this vaccine when you’re walking alone in the field or driving alone in a car, you’re in trouble. This is insane. To give this much power to one person because we don’t like the trend of the national movement. Well, elections have consequences, but to give this to one person [the power] to increase the cost of healthcare on our constituency is insane. There’s no criteria in this. So whoever the director of health is just going to say, “I don’t like that vaccine,” I mean, “I like that vaccine. I want them to have to get it.” One person’s going to decide that?
Healthcare is going to explode. This is bad, bad. Whatever happened to my body, my choice? Whatever happened to science? We just pick and choose when we use science, when we use experts. This is crazy. You have to vote this down.
Representative Donovan: This bill came to us from the Department of Health, yes. But the President of the Rhode Island Association of Pediatricians wants this bill passed. They want scheduled vaccines that they, as pediatricians, recommend. They also read the peer-reviewed articles. They want to be sure that our children in Rhode Island get the vaccines they need to keep us all safe. This does not cost. It has no cost or a minimal cost, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health, and everyone we’ve asked. I don’t really understand why we would not want to pass this bill. I strongly urge us to pass this bill.
Representative David Morales: I rise in support of this legislation. It’s centered around expanding access to healthcare. As noted, if there are vaccines that are being recommended for the purposes of keeping our neighbors safe and healthy, especially our kiddos, there is going to be a requirement that Medicaid has to cover those vaccines alongside private insurance. In other words, we’re not putting our neighbors into a position where they now have to take on the burden of cost-sharing. As we have seen, healthcare has become more expensive over the years, but that’s also why we have the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner to ensure this legislation does not lead to unintended consequences, such as our premiums spiking, as we have seen in previous years. I urge our colleagues to support this legislation because it’s been disturbing to see trends across the nation toward more relaxed policies on vaccine requirements.
Look no further than Texas, where you’ve had a literal breakout of measles amongst kids, and that’s because they’re neglecting public health. When we have measures like this, it’s about ensuring there’s a responsibility to protect one another within our communities, especially given how dense a state we are. But in addition to that, there are consumer protections, so none of our neighbors, regardless of whether you depend on Medicaid or private insurance, has to find themselves in a position where they cannot afford those vaccines. I urge our colleagues to vote yes.
Representative Megan Cotter: Members of the Health and Human Services Committee are often there very long nights throughout the session. I want to thank the sponsor for this bill, and I’d like to call my colleagues’ attention to the letters. We did not hear any opposition to this bill, and if it were going to increase consumer costs, Blue Cross would not have submitted a letter of support. This does not increase costs. Blue Cross included a letter stating that this will save us money in the long run.
Representative McGaw: I rise in strong support of this legislation. As noted earlier, we have seen concerning trends in vaccination across the country. Accepting the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics is fantastic, but we also know we need guidelines for adult vaccinations. This bill is about another opportunity to provide input on which vaccines are appropriate for coverage here in Rhode Island, as mentioned earlier, due to concerning national trends. We want to ensure that we’re providing all the opportunities, and I have every confidence that our Director of the Department of Health, in coordination with his team, will do their due diligence in reviewing all available information to protect the public health of Rhode Islanders.
Representative Fogarty: I’m going to try to remain calm when I speak. I am a former pharmaceutical rep who sold vaccines. I know about vaccine safety. I’ve been here in this state when some of the foremost experts on vaccines have come to congratulate the Department of Health on our vaccination rate and the low disease rate in Rhode Island.
The ACIP said they resisted RFK Jr., and the 17 appointees were let go. So when you bring up the ACIP, which I used to respect highly, these are not the experts anymore.
The DOH wants the vaccine schedule to remain covered, as it always has. The ACIP does not. The DOH has not changed its vaccine recommendations and has broken away from the CDC’s vaccination recommendations because the CDC changed its own. They continued to vaccinate against the 18 routine diseases for all children on the same schedule that was in place before this administration overhauled the federal guidelines on children’s vaccinations. The CDC wanted to remove hepatitis A, hepatitis C, and meningitis from the list. May I remind you that when my son was probably two or three, we had a big meningitis outbreak here in Rhode Island. Everybody was scrambling to get their children the meningitis vaccine to protect them. I was scrambling, and luckily, because I was a pharmaceutical rep, I got one of the doctors to vaccinate my son and not wait in a huge line.
I cut the line because we all want to protect our children. Do you want to see meningitis come back? Do you want to see children lose their legs and limbs or die? Because that’s what happened here in Rhode Island with meningitis. I get very sensitive when you talk about vaccines because they are the best thing that has happened to the world since the world was created. They have saved millions of lives. Don’t ever try to tell me that our Department of Health is not trying to protect our children. Follow what’s happening in the federal guidelines, follow what’s happened, see that this administration has made a joke of the CDC, the intelligent people, and follow this as you try to point out Representative Lima, who has left their recommendations in the dust. The Department of Health does not consider this a problem. This is what they’ve been doing, and this is what they’ve been assigned to do.
Representative Arthur Corvese: I’m going to be very brief. I wasn’t going to speak on this. I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, Charlene. On this one, I have to take a stand against that. I agree with her that during COVID, during a 100-year-never-experienced-before pandemic, many poor decisions were made. One of the poor decisions the Department of Health made was to revoke licenses. Having said that, one of the most important areas in medicine is pediatric vaccines, and Chair Fogarty is correct regarding our immunization rate. We have to keep that. I’m looking at this bill as something necessary for the immediate future, though we may not need it in the longer term, depending on what happens. But if the Department of Health feels that keeping our immunization rates high is necessary to maintain the status quo of the pediatric vaccine schedule, then this is necessary.
That’s it. I urge everyone to support this.
Representative Lima: If you look on page one, as opposed to the two professional global organizations that have been doing this, we’re giving it to one person, the director of the Department of Health. By the way, we fund their salary and all that stuff. Often control them. Not in the team. We heard someone say the Director of Health and their team. It doesn’t say in the bill their team. Does anybody see “team” in that line? No. As far as cost, come on. Look at page five. Every individual group medical service contract or every individual group, hospital, medical expense insurance policy plan or group policy delivered, issued, or renewed in the state of Rhode Island from January 1st, 2027 shall provide coverage. We’re mandating that these Rhode Island companies provide coverage.
It’s not going to cost anything? It’s not going to be passed on to the consumer? Who’s going to pay it? Little payment fairies are going to come up and pay it? Of course, it’s going to raise the cost of health insurance. Our constituents aren’t paying enough? Healthcare’s a disgrace. This is a dangerous, expensive piece of legislation that will hurt our constituents. It’s ridiculous. Meningitis and the other thing: Who says that’s not going to be covered? You don’t like where the federal policy is going, so you come up with these cocky ideas and let one person decide. That’s going to be great for the State of Rhode Island. We’re taking away your choice. We’re giving it to one person. Two people had to resign under a cloud, and there’s more coming out on one. Half of it hasn’t even come out yet under a dark cloud, and we’re going to give it to that one person we control so you can get your way and not go along with federal and national policies and all the experts.
Great, great. Why don’t we just shut the lights off and destroy the state, because that’s what we’re doing.
Representative Teresa Tanzi: I’m glad I got to follow the last speaker because if I have to put one person making the decision versus another one person, if I have to choose between RFK and our Department of Health, if I have to choose between the guy who picked up a bear carcass and we all know the rest, the guy with the toilet seat history or the guy who’s a practicing doctor in the state of Rhode Island. I’m choosing the DOH doctor and his judgment.
Representative McGaw: I want to clarify because I comment onbout the “team,” so I want to point this body to the beginning of the end of page one, the beginning of page two, where it talks about the Department of Health appointing an advisory committee to be convened and the advisory committee membership will include but not be limited to a primary care provider, an epidemiologist, a pharmacist, major insurers, and at the discretion of the director, representatives of nursing home industry and the home healthcare industry. So there will, in fact, be a team reviewing any guidelines the Director of Health deems in need of further evaluation. That’s what I meant by the team.
Representative Robert Quattrocchi: Thank you, speaker. It was mentioned that the current members of the ACIP are not to be trusted. Going down the list:
Martin Kulldorff, PhD, chair, epidemiologist, biostatistician, Harvard Medical School professor.
Joseph Hibbeln, MD, psychiatrist, neuroscientist
Dr. Retsef Levi, PhD, MIT professor, management, and healthcare analytics.
Dr. Robert Malone is an MD, physician, scientist, biochemist, and the inventor of RNA technology.
Dr. H. Cody Meissner, MD, professor of pediatrics at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth,
Dr. Joseph Pagano, MD, emergency medicine physician,
Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, PHDRN, public health nurse, board member of the National Vaccine Information Center,
Dr. Michael Ross, MD, obstetrician, gynecologist, and former clinical professor.
I could keep going. I mean, there’s another seven here. That’s not enough knowledge right there? Science is not something that debate should be shut down on. It should always be evolving. I mean, science told us that it was okay for barbers to cut our veins and bleed us out, so science is always evolving.
Speaker Christopher Blazejewski: There are 54 in favor. 14 opposed the act prevails.
Here’s the video of the discussion on the Senate floor:
Senate President Valarie Lawson: S2379 sub A by Senator Ujifusa, an act related to Health and Safety. Department of Health, Senator Ujafusa.
Senator Ujifusa: Vaccines are the single greatest public health achievement in human history. Before vaccines, one in five American children did not make it to their fifth birthday. Diphtheria killed over 13,000 Americans in a single year. Measles killed nearly 7,600. Whooping cough killed up to 9,000 children annually, and polio paralyzed 15,000 every year, mostly children. Infectious diseases accounted for nearly two-thirds of all childhood deaths. Vaccines changed that, driving infectious disease from 62% of childhood deaths to just 2% by the end of the 20th century. That achievement is now under deliberate assault. In June 2025, RFK Jr. fired every single member of the CDC’s Committee on Immunization Practices, and all 17 he fired were independent scientists and physicians. He replaced them with people who had no relevant medical expertise. The consequences are already here. Measles, eliminated in the United States in 2000, has infected over 4,200 Americans across 47 states and killed four people, including two unvaccinated children, and is pushing us to the brink of losing our elimination status. In 2022, polio reappeared in an unvaccinated community in New York.
This bill, S2379, follows the lead of other states, including Massachusetts, and ensures that any vaccine recommended by the Rhode Island Department of Health is covered without cost-sharing for every Rhode Islander, whether they have private insurance, Medicaid, or state employee coverage. It shields Rhode Island physicians from hostile out-of-state litigation when they follow established medical guidance and vaccination. It is part of our Senate priority healthcare package, and I move passage.
Senator Jessica de la Cruz: I was going to vote yes on this bill, still am, but I really don’t think RFK or the administration is a big threat to vaccines. They’re important. They’re necessary. They have saved a lot of lives. There’s a lot of fear-mongering in the chamber, but I will be voting yes because vaccines are important.is
Senator Elaine Morgan: Are any of the flu vaccines or the COVID vaccines included in the regimen as necessary for children?
Senator Ujifusa: They are recommended by our Department of Health, yes.
Senator Morgan: Okay. Thank you.
Senate President Lawson: There are 37 votes in the affirmative, one against the act passes.
This legislation does not force people to get vaccinated. But it does help protect access and affordability for vaccines. This is a win-win for everyone.
The people who voted no have cognitive issues.
The Republicans want to kill you by destroying the public health system