How the Affordable Care Act could affect RI insurance rates
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one of the biggest things to hit health care in decades. And you might already have started to feel its effects on your own health care - from no-cost preventative...
View ArticleShould Smokers Pay More for Health Insurance?
Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers will be able to charge smokers up to 50% more than non-smokers for health insurance. Fair or not, a Politico article points out how difficult that policy...
View ArticleLifespan Facing "Significant" Budget Shortfall
The state’s largest hospital system is facing some unanticipated budget shortfalls. Lifespan isn’t saying yet whether the fix will include layoffs.Lifespan released a statement saying it had asked...
View ArticleWill Health Insurance Costs Rise for Rhode Islanders Under the ACA?
You may have seen some headlines about a new report from the Society of Actuaries (the super-smart, nerdy folks who figure out how much risk, say, an insurance company can afford to take on), decrying...
View ArticleNo Delay for Rhode Island's Health Insurance Exchange for Small Businesses
The federal government is pushing back the launch of an online health insurance marketplace for small businesses that’s part of the Affordable Care Act. But there will be no delay in Rhode Island.
View ArticleLt. Gov. Roberts: Planning a New Way to Pay for Health Care
Rhode Island is beginning a public effort to develop a statewide plan to improve the way we pay for health care. Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts is leading the effort.With a $1.6 million dollar grant...
View ArticleHealth Insurers Seek Rate Hikes for 2014
Rhode Island health insurers have filed their requests for increases in premium rates next year. Some small businesses and individuals could see some significant hikes.Small businesses could see their...
View ArticleInsurance Commissioner Koller Stepping Down
Rhode Island’s first health insurance commissioner, Christopher Koller, will be leaving his post this summer. Koller will be heading a foundation in New York City.
View ArticleAre You Eligible for Health Care Tax Credits?
A new report from consumer health care advocacy group Families USA crunched the numbers, state by state. They found that almost 83,000 Rhode Islanders will be eligible for something called the "premium...
View ArticleOnline Health Insurance Marketplace to Offer 28 Plans
Rhode Island’s online marketplace for health insurance is taking shape in preparation for October 1st. That's the date the exchange is scheduled to be up and running with a variety of new health plans...
View ArticleRI Insurers Must Disclose Prices to Doctors
For the first time, Rhode Island’s insurance commissioner has directed health insurers to disclose what they pay for health care services. But that information won’t necessarily be directly available...
View ArticleHittner Nominated as Next Health Insurance Commissioner
Governor Lincoln Chafee has nominated Dr. Kathleen Hittner as Rhode Island’s next Health Insurance Commissioner. Hittner must be confirmed by the senate.Hittner has been tapped to replace outgoing...
View ArticleNo Health Insurance? Get Ready to Enroll.
UPDATE: HHS unveiled a newly redesigned healthcare.gov today, which lets users learn more about enrolling in health insurance plans through online insurance marketplaces beginning October 1st. I tried...
View ArticleRhode Island Health Insurer Reacts to DOMA Decision
It’s unclear how exactly Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision on DOMA will affect health care coverage for same-sex spouses. But Rhode Island’s largest health insurer has already been extending such...
View ArticleLast Day on Job for RI's First Health Insurance Commissioner
Today is the last day on the job for Rhode Island’s –and the nation’s—first commissioner of health insurance. Chris Koller is leaving the position to take the helm of a foundation in New York City. He...
View ArticleKoller Reflects on Time in Office, Outlook for RI Health Care
Chris Koller, Rhode Island’s first commissioner of health insurance, spent his last day in office today. Before he heads to New York City to take over as president of the Milbank Memorial Fund, he...
View ArticleHealth Insurance Premiums Up for '14, But Less Than Proposed
Rhode Islanders who buy health insurance individually or through a small employer now have an idea how much their monthly premiums will be in 2014. The state’s outgoing commissioner of health insurance...
View ArticleAssembly OKs Miller's Health Care Reform Bill
What? More health care reform? Isn't the federal government spearheading that? Well, yes, but states are engaged in their own reforms, and Rhode Island's got a particularly big appetite for it.
View ArticleHittner Confirmed as RI's Next Health Insurance Commissioner
Kathleen Hittner, MD has been confirmed as Rhode Island’s next commissioner of health insurance. She replaces Chris Koller, who left office last week for a new position in New York. Hittner is a former...
View ArticleHealth Insurance Debate Rages On As Obamacare Creeps Closer
The debate over Obamacare rages from Providence to Pasadena. As the state moves closer to launching its health insurance exchange, Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay parses the...
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