General Assembly passes bill limiting insulin copays
The General Assembly approved legislation (2021-S 0170B, 2021-H 5196A) sponsored by Sen. Melissa A. Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) and House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly) to limit insured patients’ copays for insulin used to treat diabetes to $40 for a 30-day supply. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk.
Assembly OKs expanded access to telemedicine coverage
The General Assembly approved legislation (2021-S 0004Baa), 2021-H 6032Aaa) sponsored by Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Joshua Miller (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence) and House Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Stephen M. Casey (D-Dist. 50, Woonsocket) to expand telemedicine coverage requirements for insurers and require that all Rhode Island Medicaid programs cover telemedicine visits visits with health care providers via telephone or audio-video enabled device.
The General Assembly today approved legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey and House Environment and Natural Resources Committee Chairman David A. Bennett to cut down on disposable plastic straw use in Rhode Island.
The bill (2021-S 0155A, 2021-H 5131A), which would take effect Jan. 1, would not be an outright ban, but would prohibit food service establishments from providing single-use plastic straws unless requested by the consumer. It would also not prevent people with disabilities, some of whom need straws, from getting them.
California has a similar law, and many municipalities have also adopted limits or bans.
The legislation now heads to the governor.