Rhode Island

INSURANCE -- EQUITABLE FUNDING FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER BAD DEBT - Establishes a procedure for a health insurer to reimburse a healthcare provider no less than sixty-five percent (65%) of each unpaid co-payment, co-insurance or deductible amount due, after reasonable collection efforts.

CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS - Prohibits purchases of more than one firearm in any thirty (30) day period.

CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS - Allows a person over 18 to purchase a stun gun or electronic dart gun and prohibits the sale of a stun gun or electronic dart gun to a person under 18 and criminalizes using a stun gun or electronic dart gun in a crime or against a police officer.

CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS -- RESPONSIBLE FIREARM PURCHASING ACT - Changes the application to purchase a firearm. Further, this act would require all persons seeking to possess a firearm except for police and military personnel to complete and pass a basic firearm safety training course.

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE RHODE ISLAND BRIDGE REPLACEMENT, RECONSTRUCTION, AND MAINTENANCE FUND -- EXEMPTIONS FROM TOLLING FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT VEHICLES - Exempts trucks engaged in waste management collection at the central landfill from tolls operated by the R.I. Turnpike and Bridge authority.

HUMAN SERVICES -- THE RHODE ISLAND PRESCRIPTION DRUG PURCHASING POOL ACT - Establishes a state-run prescription drug purchasing pool, available for participation by nonstate public employers, private employers, and health insurance carriers, to maximize the value of drug discounts available to participants.

COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- INTEREST AND USURY - Allows RI to opt out of the provisions of DIDMCA exempting out of state lenders from interest rate limits which apply to RI lenders. Prevents evasion of statutory interest rate limits and lending rules for loans made in RI.

COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- SENIOR SAVINGS PROTECTION ACT - Requires anyone engaged in the sale of goods or services, and who offers a discount to its customers’ for utilizing automatic payment systems, via ACH or EFT or similar payment systems, provide the same discount to any person who is sixty-five (65).

BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS - Increases continuing education requirements for physician assistants, removes restrictions of PAs to render charitable care and aid for school and youth programs or cardiac arrest and removes restrictive covenants as to ownership by a PA.

TAXATION -- TAX CREDIT FOR FOOD DONATION - Provides a tax credit for food donations by qualified taxpayers to nonprofit organizations up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per year.

THE BLUE WAVE BOND FOR COASTAL PREPAREDNESS -- 2026 BOND REFERENDUM - Proposes a bond measure authorizing the State of Rhode Island to issue up to $100,000,000 in general obligation bonds, subject to voter approval, to fund coastal preparedness and resilience projects.

BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS - Permits physician assistants to practice without a physician's direct supervision and receives direct payments from Medicaid.

BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- NURSES - Allows advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and physicians who are and are not licensed in Rhode Island to provide telemedicine services to patients who are in the state when those services are rendered.

INSURANCE -- UNIVERSAL AND UNIFIED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM ACT - Establishes a universal and unified healthcare system and reform the current payment system for healthcare coverage in this state.

CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- LARGE CAPACITY FEEDING DEVICE BAN OF 2022 - Makes a first offense of possessing a large capacity feeding device a misdemeanor and subsequent offenses felonies.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT - Includes animal cruelty offenses to the domestic violence crimes committed by a family or household members against another.

WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION PROGRAM ACT - Establishes the Residential and Commercial Property Acquisition Program Act to implement residential or commercial property acquisitions, paired with funding for relocation costs within or proximate to the current community.

CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS - Increases sentences for carrying a stolen firearm when committing a crime of violence and for possessing a stolen firearm. Requires that a person convicted of these offenses serve a period of time in which they would not be eligible for parole/ probation.

BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- INTERSTATE MEDICAL LICENSURE COMPACT - Requires the state to implement the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact no later than July 1, 2026.

HEALTH AND SAFETY -- AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS REQUIRED AT PUBLIC PLACES AND HEALTHCARE FACILITIES - Adds centers for independent living pursuant to § 42-12.2-2 to the healthcare facilities required to have automated external defibrillators on site.

INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES - Amends the law on drug coverage to require insurance plans that provide coverage for prescription drugs to offer two options for prescription delivery.

CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT -- 2026 BOND REFERENDA - 2026 Bond Referenda for Capital Development.