Education accountability, electronic opioid prescriptions, mandatory health insurance among new R.I. laws in 2020

MULTIPLE NEW LAWS and requirements will take affect in Rhode Island starting Jan. 1. / PBN FILE PHOTO/PAM BHATIA

MULTIPLE NEW LAWS and requirements will take affect in Rhode Island starting Jan. 1. / PBN FILE PHOTO/PAM BHATIA


PROVIDENCE – As 2020 draws near, residents and businesses within Rhode Island will need to adhere to new requirements set to go into effect either on New Year’s Day or soon after.

Several measures that were passed in 2019 by the General Assembly and reported by multiple outlets, including the Boston Globe, outlines new guidelines that are to be followed by both individuals, and also within the business and education sectors.

Here’s a rundown of what will be required starting Jan. 1:

  • The Education Accountability Act lays out multiple points to help improve education in Rhode Island, including giving principals more power within their schools and authorizing R.I. Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green to “gather information … for the purposes of evaluating individual public schools, school districts, and the efficacy and equity of state and federally mandated programs.” The legislation requires each school district to file with Infante-Green once every three years a district-improvement plan, which, among other things, must include an analysis in student-achievement gaps in core subjects, adopt student-performance goals and develop a plan to reach those goals.
  • Every state election year going forward, Rhode Island’s primary election day will be eight Tuesdays before the general election. With this year’s general election, which includes a presidential election, taking place Nov. 3, the primary election will be held Sept. 8.
  • Commercial drivers seeking licenses will now have to take a skills test, which has three categories – pre-trip inspection, basic vehicle control skills and on-road skills. If an applicant fails one segment, that person cannot continue with the test. But, if an applicant passed prior segments before a failure, he/she will not have to retake those segments.
  • Those who are selling homes or any other residential real estate will need to disclose in writing any changes that were made to the house’s electrical and heating, plumbing, as well as any modifications and repairs regarding mold, ventilation systems and if there was any moisture damage.
  • Auto insurance companies can now assess any premium surcharge for a claim payment for a minimum of $3,000 or deny a new policy if there was a chargeable loss of $3,000. The amounts for each item were previously set at $1,500.
  • As a means to help support Rhode Island businesses in their global sustainability efforts, the R.I. Office of Secretary of State can issue these businesses a sustainability certificate if the companies develop policies to meet such sustainability goals.
  • Regarding health insurance, all Rhode Islanders starting Jan. 1 must have health insurance coverage for each month. According to the R.I. Division of Taxation, residents can obtain health insurance through an employer, a government-sponsored program – Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE, etc. – via HealthSource RI, through the private market or other means. If a person does not have “minimum essential” health insurance coverage, unless the person has a hardship or has another applicable exemption, the person would have to pay a penalty through their Rhode Island personal income tax return, which will be applied in early 2021.
  • Rhode Island will implement changes involving withholding tax for the upcoming calendar year. Per the Division of Taxation, withheld tax will as of Jan. 1 be submitted to the division on a weekly basis, replacing the quarterly and daily timeframes. Also beginning Jan. 1, employers required to deduct and withhold Rhode Island personal income tax, and had an average $200 monthly tax amount for the prior year, must “file a return and remit the payments by electronic funds transfer,” the division said. Employers who fail to file taxes electronically, unless there was a justifiable cause for the failure, will pay a penalty of 5% of the withheld tax payment not electronically filed or $500, whichever is less. Individuals not filing taxes electronically will pay a penalty up to $50.
  • Starting Thursday, all prescribers in Rhode Island will be required to review, sign, transmit and file prescriptions for all opioid drugs electronically, and handwritten prescriptions for such drugs will no longer be allowed. According to the R.I. Department of Health, the electronic prescribing will alert providers to “possible drug interactions or patient drug allergies” before prescribing incorrect medication, provides “real-time access” to a patient’s medical history in order to make more informed decisions on a patient’s health, and prevents “diversion and misuse of controlled-substance prescriptions” by reducing the “incidence of prescription theft and forgery.” Prescribers can apply for waivers from the new requirements, but they would be granted on a case-by-case basis and would be time-limited.

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com.

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