The Rhode Island Rare Disease Medication Accessibility, Affordability And Reinsurance Act
Impact
The Act mandates the creation of a program overseen by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), which will involve an advisory council to recommend high-cost drugs for coverage and set the necessary funding contributions from insurance providers. By aligning the costs across all insurers and establishing a reinsurance mechanism, the bill seeks to distribute financial responsibility more evenly among stakeholders. This may lead to more comprehensive insurance coverage for rare disease treatments and help mitigate the risk of employers and insurers excluding these costly medications from their plans.
Summary
S2197, known as the Rhode Island Rare Disease Medication Accessibility, Affordability, and Reinsurance Act, is a legislative initiative aimed at improving access to high-cost medications for rare diseases. The Act establishes a rare disease medication reinsurance fund to alleviate the financial burdens associated with these treatments, which are often prohibitively expensive and inadequately funded through traditional healthcare financing structures. The overarching goal is to ensure equitable access to necessary medications for individuals suffering from rare diseases while protecting insurers and employers from disproportionate financial impacts.
Contention
Noteworthy areas of contention surrounding S2197 include concerns regarding the potential impact on health insurance premiums. Insurers may be allowed to pass on the costs associated with the funding contributions to their customers, which has raised apprehension among consumer advocacy groups and some legislators about escalating insurance rates. Additionally, there are discussions about the effectiveness of an advisory council comprised of various stakeholders, and whether its recommendations will genuinely reflect patient needs or be influenced unduly by profit-driven stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry.
Creates the Rhode Island Individual Market Affordability Act of 2024 to help reduce out-of-pocket costs for low- and moderate-income consumers enrolled in the health insurance coverage through the Rhode Island health benefits exchange.
Creates the Rhode Island Individual Market Affordability Act of 2024 to help reduce out-of-pocket costs for low- and moderate-income consumers enrolled in the health insurance coverage through the Rhode Island health benefits exchange.
Provides for uniform definitions of independent contractor and employee, and for penalties for the misclassification of employees. (2/3 - CA7s2.1(A)) (1/1/22) (OR INCREASE SG RV See Note)
Substitute for HB 2570 by Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development - Defining benefit year, temporary unemployment, wages and other terms in the employment security law, requiring electronic filing for certain employers, establishing qualifications for employment security board of review candidates, extending the deadline for new accounts following business acquisitions, making certain changes to the employer rate schedules and lowering rates for new employers, enabling employers to report claimant work search issues, confirming legislative coordinating council oversight for the new unemployment insurance information technology system implementation, authorizing the secretary to grant additional temporary unemployment in certain circumstances, requiring the secretary to publish certain information, abolishing the employment security interest assessment fund and providing relief for negative account balance employers.
Defining benefit year, temporary unemployment and other terms in the employment security law, requiring electronic filing for certain employers, establishing qualifications for employment security board of review candidates, extending the deadline for new accounts following business acquisitions, making certain changes to the employer rate schedules, enabling employers to report claimant work search issues, confirming legislative coordinating council oversight for the new unemployment insurance information technology system implementation, authorizing the secretary to grant temporary unemployment, requiring the secretary to annually publish certain data and abolishing the employment security interest assessment fund.