Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Dr. Amy Nunn speaks PHOTO: GoLocal s Richard McCaffrey
A wide range of public health leaders, elected representatives, children’s health experts, grocery industry executives, and other advocates from the Nourish Rhode Island Coalition gathered at the Rhode Island State House on Tuesday to voice their support for proposed bills that would improve children’s health and alleviate hunger in Rhode Island through a “sugary drinks tax.”
The legislation is opposed by the national beverage industry.
Currently, pending before the Rhode Island House and Senate Finance Committees is H5715 and S0327 that include a proposed 1.5 cent per ounce tax on unhealthy sugary drinks.GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Laura Kilcline is a registered dietitian/nutritionist, private practice owner and president of the Rhode Island Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.
If telemedicine in RI is here to stay, medical nutrition therapy should be included. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on many aspects of our health-care system, but it also started some positive changes.
One of the most striking was former Governor Raimondo’s emergency executive order expanding access to telemedicine services for all Rhode Islanders and ensuring “pay parity” for providers. This means that a doctor, dietitian or other licensed professional providing telemedicine visits must be paid the same amount as if the appointment happened in person. This was not the case before the pandemic. Permanent parity for telemedicine is currently under consideration by the Rhode Island General Assembly, but in varying forms.
Published Wed May 05 2021 15:57:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) by Lynn Arditi
Rhode Island physicians groups are sounding alarms about legislation moving through the General Assembly that they say would strip the authority of the state health director over emergency medical services.
The legislation (H-6282 and S-860) would prevent the health director from enacting EMS regulations, protocols and licensing requirements without the approval of a 25-member board that currently serves in an advisory capacity. The single-largest constituency of the Ambulance Service Coordinating Advisory Board are municipal fire departments, which run almost all of the state’s EMS agencies.
The Rhode Island State Association of Fire Fighters and the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns are supporting the legislation. The Rhode Island Medical Society, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Em