Home Economy Government McKee signs several health care bills into law

McKee signs several health care bills into law

By

Katie Castellani

-

08/16/2024

senate-leaders-696x385 — GOV. DANIEL J. MCKEE is expected to sign a package of health care bills into law Friday./ PBN FILE PHOTO/NICOLE DOTZENROD

CRANSTON – Gov. Daniel J. McKee signed a package of health care bills into law Friday. The seven-bill package includes six that were part of the Rhode Island HEALTH (Holistic Enhancement and Access Legislation for Total Health) Initiative – a 25-bill health care package Senate leaders unveiled in March. Of those 25 bills 11 –

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CRANSTON – Gov. Daniel J. McKee signed a package of health care bills into law Friday. The seven-bill package includes six that were part of the Rhode Island HEALTH (Holistic Enhancement and Access Legislation for Total Health) Initiative – a 25-bill health care package Senate leaders unveiled in March. Of those 25 bills 11 – including the six McKee signed Friday – passed the General Assembly. The six bills included in the HEALTH Initiative are:

S2709A, sponsored by Sen. Melissa Murray, D-Woonsocket, and a House companion from Rep. Mary Ann Shallcross Smith, D-Lincoln. The law prohibits hospitals and other providers from reporting someone’s medical debt to credit bureaus and consumer reporting agencies. It also establishes rules for communicating with consumers and false or misleading representation by debt collectors as well as bans collections during insurance appeals.
S2184A, sponsored by Sen. Alana DiMario, D-Narragansett, and a House companion from Rep. Justine Caldwell, D-East Greenwich. This makes Rhode Island one of the founding states for the Interstate Social Work Licensure Compact to increase access for mental health support and employment options for social workers.
S2183, sponsored by Sen. Matthew LaMountain, D-Warwick, and a House companion from Rep. Kathy Fogarty, D-South Kingstown. This allows Rhode Island to participate in the Interstate Counseling Compact so Rhode Islanders can have greater access to counseling services by granting recognition of other member state licenses. It also makes counseling license requirements throughout the U.S. more uniform and eliminates the need for providers to maintain licenses to practice in multiple states.
S2173, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore, Hanna Gallo, D-Cranston, and a House companion from Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston. The law allows the state to join the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact and creates a commission to follow the compact’s requirements between states.
S2623A, Sponsored by Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, and a House companion from Rep. Joseph McNamara, D-Crastion. This law allows Rhode Island to join the Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact that has been adopted by 27 states. The compact allows licensed occupational therapists and assistants to practice in all member states and removes the need for practitioners to get a license for each state they want to work in.
S2083, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Valarie Lawson, D-East Providence, and a House companion from Rep. Stephen Casey, D-Woonsocket. This allows a nurse to be exempt from certain licensing requirements before taking and receiving results from the National Council Licensure Exam, or NCLEX.

McKee also signed S7365, which was not part of the HEALTH Initiative. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Linda Ujifusa, D-Portsmouth, and has a House companion from Caldwell. The law ends “white bagging” which is where insurers require patients to get prescriptions from insurer-affiliated pharmacies that are usually mail order-only. Under the law, patients will now have the right to choose the pharmacy of their choice. McKee was expected to be joined by Miller, Lauria, McNamara and Donovan for the bill signing at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.