Rhode Island Announces: House Committee to investigate Single Payer System

On January 13th, 2021 the Rhode Island General Assembly announced a Joint Resolution to create a Special Legislative Commission to study and assess the implementation of a Medicare-For-All type of Single Payer system. The committee announced consists of 19 total members including racially diverse physicians, professors in health and economics, Medicaid Director of Health and Human Services or comparable offices in behavioral health, clinical, pharmacy, etc, representatives of the business community, and representatives from organized labor organizations. 

The committee has a year to report out on its findings, the committee expiring after two years. 

So what are they investigating? The creation of a single-payer system in Rhode Island. The Joint Committee states a longstanding understanding of the problems plaguing the Rhode Island healthcare system, dominated by the insurance industry. The pandemic only highlighted the number of uninsured, underinsured, racial disparities, and gaps in hospital systems to bring this bill to the forefront. Plus it might help that we are starting fresh with a new Presidential Administration that has made Medicare a priority. 

The Joint Committee referred back to a study in 2015 by Professor Gerald Friedman of UMass Amherst stating: 

“Single payer in Rhode Island will finance medical care with substantial savings 29 compared with the existing multi-payer system of public and private insurers and would improve 30 access to health care by extending coverage to the 4 percent of Rhode Island residents still 31 without insurance under the Affordable Care Act and expanding coverage for the growing 32 number with inadequate health care coverageSingle payer would improve the economic health of Rhode Island by increasing real 34 disposable income for most residents, reducing the burden of health care on businesses and promoting increased employment, and shifting the costs of health care away from working and 2 middle-class residents."

The initial legislation was proposed in 2015 and has been waiting ever since. This would be a move to healthcare savings for the state of Rhode Island, healthcare savings for individuals, increase the amount of insured people, increase access to care, move toward value-based care, and increase transparency in our healthcare system. Referencing the Single-Payer system implemented in Canada and in many countries around the world, the Joint Committee made it clear that they are ready for a big change. 

This comes at a time where the anticipated cost of healthcare is anticipated to increase in 2025 for a family of four to half of their earned annual income. Historically, “Between 1991 and 2014, health care spending in Rhode Island per person rose by over 22 250 percent rising much faster than income and greatly reducing disposable income.”

 The Joint Committee states: “In the U.S., about two-thirds of personal bankruptcies are medical cost-related and of 26 of these, about three-fourths, had health insurance at the onset of their medical problems - in no other 27 industrialized country do people worry about going bankrupt over medical costs.”

So now we wait and see what happens. The Committee will begin meeting in the new legislative session. We will keep you updated! 

Source: H5019 General Assembly of Rhode Island