Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0705 Compare Versions

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55 2025 -- S 0705
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99 S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
1010 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1111 JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
1212 ____________
1313
1414 A N A C T
1515 RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES
1616 Introduced By: Senators DiMario, Valverde, Lauria, Lawson, Bissaillon, Acosta, Murray,
1717 Euer, and Kallman
1818 Date Introduced: March 07, 2025
1919 Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services
2020
2121
2222 It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
2323 SECTION 1. Chapter 27-18 of the General Laws entitled "Accident and Sickness Insurance 1
2424 Policies" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 2
2525 27-18-95. Community health workers. 3
2626 (a) As used in this section, “community health worker” means a trained professional 4
2727 providing services that are considered medically necessary for patients with one or more chronic 5
2828 health, including behavioral health, conditions, patients who are at risk for a chronic health 6
2929 condition, and/or who face barriers meeting their health or health-related social needs. Services that 7
3030 can be provided by community health workers can include, but are not limited to: 8
3131 (1) Health and promotion coaching; 9
3232 (2) Health education and training; 10
3333 (3) Health system navigation and resource coordination services; 11
3434 (4) Care planning; and 12
3535 (5) Follow-up care recommendations. 13
3636 (b)(1) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 14
3737 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 15
3838 or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 16
3939 community health worker in accordance with each health insurer's respective principles and 17
4040 mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 18
4141 community health worker's area of professional competence as defined by the community health 19
4242
4343
4444 LC001159 - Page 2 of 8
4545 worker certification standard developed and maintained by the Rhode Island certification board in 1
4646 collaboration with the department of health, and are currently reimbursed when rendered by any 2
4747 other healthcare provider. 3
4848 (2) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation may require supervision, 4
4949 signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider as a condition of reimbursement, except when 5
5050 those requirements are also applicable to other categories of healthcare providers. 6
5151 (3) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient may be required to pay 7
5252 for duplicate services actually rendered by both a community health worker and any other 8
5353 healthcare provider. 9
5454 (c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 10
5555 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 11
5656 or renewed in this state that is required to cover community health worker services as defined in 12
5757 subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 13
5858 community health worker services to the office of the health insurance commissioner on or before 14
5959 July 1, 2027 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health insurance commissioner shall define 15
6060 the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 16
6161 (d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 17
6262 (1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 18
6363 (2) Disability income; 19
6464 (3) Accident only; 20
6565 (4) Long-term care; 21
6666 (5) Limited benefit health; 22
6767 (6) Specified disease indemnity; 23
6868 (7) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 24
6969 (8) Other limited benefit policies. 25
7070 SECTION 2. Chapter 27-19 of the General Laws entitled "Nonprofit Hospital Service 26
7171 Corporations" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 27
7272 27-19-87. Community health workers. 28
7373 (a) As used in this section, “community health worker” means a trained professional 29
7474 providing services that are considered medically necessary for patients with one or more chronic 30
7575 health, including behavioral health, conditions, patients who are at risk for a chronic health 31
7676 condition, and/or who face barriers meeting their health or health-related social needs. Services that 32
7777 can be provided by community health workers can include, but are not limited to: 33
7878 (1) Health and promotion coaching; 34
7979
8080
8181 LC001159 - Page 3 of 8
8282 (2) Health education and training; 1
8383 (3) Health system navigation and resource coordination services; 2
8484 (4) Care planning; and 3
8585 (5) Follow-up care recommendations. 4
8686 (b)(1) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 5
8787 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 6
8888 or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 7
8989 community health worker in accordance with each health insurer's respective principles and 8
9090 mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 9
9191 community health worker's area of professional competence as defined by the community health 10
9292 worker certification standard developed and maintained by the Rhode Island certification board in 11
9393 collaboration with the department of health, and are currently reimbursed when rendered by any 12
9494 other healthcare provider. 13
9595 (2) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation may require supervision, 14
9696 signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider as a condition of reimbursement, except when 15
9797 those requirements are also applicable to other categories of healthcare providers. 16
9898 (3) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient may be required to pay 17
9999 for duplicate services actually rendered by both a community health worker and any other 18
100100 healthcare provider. 19
101101 (c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 20
102102 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 21
103103 or renewed in this state that is required to cover community health worker services as defined in 22
104104 subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 23
105105 community health worker services to the office of the health insurance commissioner on or before 24
106106 July 1, 2027 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health insurance commissioner shall define 25
107107 the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 26
108108 (d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 27
109109 (1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 28
110110 (2) Disability income; 29
111111 (3) Accident only; 30
112112 (4) Long-term care; 31
113113 (5) Limited benefit health; 32
114114 (6) Specified disease indemnity; 33
115115 (7) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 34
116116
117117
118118 LC001159 - Page 4 of 8
119119 (8) Other limited benefit policies. 1
120120 SECTION 3. Chapter 27-20 of the General Laws entitled "Nonprofit Medical Service 2
121121 Corporations" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 3
122122 27-20-83. Community health workers. 4
123123 (a) As used in this section, “community health worker” means a trained professional 5
124124 providing services that are considered medically necessary for patients with one or more chronic 6
125125 health, including behavioral health, conditions, patients who are at risk for a chronic health 7
126126 condition, and/or who face barriers meeting their health or health-related social needs. Services that 8
127127 can be provided by community health workers can include, but are not limited to: 9
128128 (1) Health and promotion coaching; 10
129129 (2) Health education and training; 11
130130 (3) Health system navigation and resource coordination services; 12
131131 (4) Care planning; and 13
132132 (5) Follow-up care recommendations. 14
133133 (b)(1) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 15
134134 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 16
135135 or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 17
136136 community health worker in accordance with each health insurer's respective principles and 18
137137 mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 19
138138 community health worker's area of professional competence as defined by the community health 20
139139 worker certification standard developed and maintained by the Rhode Island certification board in 21
140140 collaboration with the department of health, and are currently reimbursed when rendered by any 22
141141 other healthcare provider. 23
142142 (2) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation may require supervision, 24
143143 signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider as a condition of reimbursement, except when 25
144144 those requirements are also applicable to other categories of healthcare providers. 26
145145 (3) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient may be required to pay 27
146146 for duplicate services actually rendered by both a community health worker and any other 28
147147 healthcare provider. 29
148148 (c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 30
149149 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 31
150150 or renewed in this state that is required to cover community health worker services as defined in 32
151151 subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 33
152152 community health worker services to the office of the health insurance commissioner on or before 34
153153
154154
155155 LC001159 - Page 5 of 8
156156 July 1, 2027 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health insurance commissioner shall define 1
157157 the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 2
158158 (d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 3
159159 (1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 4
160160 (2) Disability income; 5
161161 (3) Accident only; 6
162162 (4) Long-term care; 7
163163 (5) Limited benefit health; 8
164164 (6) Specified disease indemnity; 9
165165 (7) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 10
166166 (8) Other limited benefit policies. 11
167167 SECTION 4. Chapter 27-41 of the General Laws entitled "Health Maintenance 12
168168 Organizations" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 13
169169 27-41-100. Community health workers. 14
170170 (a) As used in this section, “community health worker” means a trained professional 15
171171 providing services that are considered medically necessary for patients with one or more chronic 16
172172 health, including behavioral health, conditions, patients who are at risk for a chronic health 17
173173 condition, and/or who face barriers meeting their health or health-related social needs. Services that 18
174174 can be provided by community health workers can include, but are not limited to: 19
175175 (1) Health and promotion coaching; 20
176176 (2) Health education and training; 21
177177 (3) Health system navigation and resource coordination services; 22
178178 (4) Care planning; and 23
179179 (5) Follow-up care recommendations. 24
180180 (b)(1) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 25
181181 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 26
182182 or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 27
183183 community health worker in accordance with each health insurer's respective principles and 28
184184 mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 29
185185 community health worker's area of professional competence as defined by the community health 30
186186 worker certification standard developed and maintained by the Rhode Island certification board in 31
187187 collaboration with the department of health, and are currently reimbursed when rendered by any 32
188188 other healthcare provider. 33
189189 (2) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation may require supervision, 34
190190
191191
192192 LC001159 - Page 6 of 8
193193 signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider as a condition of reimbursement, except when 1
194194 those requirements are also applicable to other categories of healthcare providers. 2
195195 (3) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient may be required to pay 3
196196 for duplicate services actually rendered by both a community health worker and any other 4
197197 healthcare provider. 5
198198 (c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 6
199199 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 7
200200 or renewed in this state that is required to cover community health worker services as defined in 8
201201 subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 9
202202 community health worker services to the office of the health insurance commissioner on or before 10
203203 July 1, 2027 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health insurance commissioner shall define 11
204204 the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 12
205205 (d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 13
206206 (1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 14
207207 (2) Disability income; 15
208208 (3) Accident only; 16
209209 (4) Long-term care; 17
210210 (5) Limited benefit health; 18
211211 (6) Specified disease indemnity; 19
212212 (7) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 20
213213 (8) Other limited benefit policies. 21
214214 SECTION 5. Chapter 27-18.2 of the General Laws entitled "Medicare Supplement 22
215215 Insurance Policies" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 23
216216 27-18.2-12. Community health workers. 24
217217 (a) As used in this section. "community health worker" means a trained professional 25
218218 providing services that are considered medically necessary for patients with one or more chronic 26
219219 health, including behavioral health, conditions, patients who are at risk for a chronic health 27
220220 condition, and/or who face barriers meeting their health or health-related social needs. Services that 28
221221 can be provided by community health workers can include. but are not limited to: 29
222222 (1) Health and promotion coaching; 30
223223 (2) Health education and training; 31
224224 (3) Health system navigation and resource coordination services; 32
225225 (4) Care planning; and 33
226226 (5) Follow-up care recommendations. 34
227227
228228
229229 LC001159 - Page 7 of 8
230230 (b)(l) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 1
231231 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 2
232232 or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the services of a 3
233233 community health worker in accordance with each health insurer's respective principles and 4
234234 mechanisms of reimbursement, credentialing, and contracting, if the services are within the 5
235235 community health worker's area of professional competence as defined by the community health 6
236236 worker certification standard developed and maintained by the Rhode Island certification board in 7
237237 collaboration with the department of health, and are currently reimbursed when rendered by any 8
238238 other healthcare provider. 9
239239 (2) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation may require supervision, 10
240240 signature, or referral by any other healthcare provider as a condition of reimbursement, except when 11
241241 those requirements are also applicable to other categories of healthcare providers. 12
242242 (3) No insurer or hospital or medical service corporation or patient may be required to pay 13
243243 for duplicate services actually rendered by both a community health worker and any other 14
244244 healthcare provider. 15
245245 (c) Every individual or group health insurance contract, or every individual or group 16
246246 hospital or medical expense insurance policy, plan, or group policy delivered, issued for delivery, 17
247247 or renewed in this state that is required to cover community health worker services as defined in 18
248248 subsections (a) and (b) of this section, shall report utilization and cost information related to 19
249249 community health worker services to the office of the health insurance commissioner on or before 20
250250 July 1, 2027 and each July 1 thereafter. The office of the health insurance commissioner shall define 21
251251 the utilization and cost information required to be reported. 22
252252 (d) This section shall not apply to insurance coverage providing benefits for: 23
253253 (1) Hospital confinement indemnity; 24
254254 (2) Disability income; 25
255255 (3) Accident only; 26
256256 (4) Long-term care; 27
257257 (5) Limited benefit health; 28
258258 (6) Specified disease indemnity; 29
259259 (7) Sickness or bodily injury or death by accident or both; and 30
260260 (8) Other limited benefit policies. 31
261261 SECTION 6. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2026. 32
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267267 LC001159 - Page 8 of 8
268268 EXPLANATION
269269 BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
270270 OF
271271 A N A C T
272272 RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES
273273 ***
274274 This act would require insurance coverage for all community health workers’ services to 1
275275 include, but not be limited to, health and promotion coaching, health education and training, health 2
276276 system navigation and resource coordination services, care planning and follow-up care 3
277277 recommendations. Coverage would not be provided for insurance coverage providing benefits for 4
278278 hospital confinement indemnity, disability income, accident only, long-term care, Medicare 5
279279 supplement, limited benefit health, specified disease indemnity, sickness or bodily injury or death 6
280280 by accident, or both, and other limited benefit policies. 7
281281 This act would take effect on January 1, 2026. 8
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